Heart of a Hufflepuff
by nightkitty555
Summary: An unlikely friendship started when a seventh year Hufflepuff and a first year Gryffindor met after curfew. What does it mean to be loyal? To be brave? This tracks their seven year journey. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1- Sowing

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything JKR created, and whatnot.**

Heart of a Hufflepuff

Chapter 1- Sowing

 _It's all I am. All anyone will ever think of me as. Some freak that would make a great sex toy. Should I even care? Maybe it would be fun to just play along._ Tears slipped down the seventeen year old Hufflepuff's cheeks. _I thought he was different, that someone was finally different._

"Are you okay?" a small voice asked. The girl, Nymphadora Tonks, looked up to see a round-faced boy looking at her. He looked like a first year, and Tonks was fairly sure that he wasn't a Hufflepuff.

"Not really, but I'll get there eventually, I guess," Tonks answered honestly, not sure why she said anything except the typical "I'm fine." To her surprise and slight annoyance, the boy walked slowly closer to her and sat down. She looked at him through the tangle of her drab brown hair. She hated that hair, her natural hair, but she probably should have at least kept it up a little better- she wasn't sure when she'd last bothered running a brush through it.

"My day wasn't great either," the boy said. "I melted a cauldron, and then I had to write Gran about it to get a replacement. That man, Professor Snape, absolutely terrifies me," he said softly.

"I wrote the book on melted cauldrons, my friend," Tonks chuckled. "I went through five years with the man and he thought he was going to get rid of me. I somehow scraped an "E" on my OWL though, and that meant he had to take me back. He actually changed his standards now and won't accept "E's" anymore, but he had to take the ones in my class," Tonks smiled, already feeling better, in her own way taunting her least favorite professor.

"Why would you want to keep doing potions?" the boy asked.

"To be an auror," Tonks said a bit wistfully. "It's one of the classes they recommend. "And Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, of course. I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures though too, because it seems like it could help. Especially if I can't get through Potions after all…"

The boy was silent for a moment. "My parents were both aurors," he said quietly.

The girls eyes lit up, "Really? What's your name? What do your parents do now? Are they retired?" Tonks asked before she saw the boy's expression. She thought she would have ripped out her own tongue if she could have her words back.

"I'm Neville Longbottom," he spoke slowly. The girl instantly knew what was coming. _Trust Nymphadora Tonks to be the biggest idiot on the face of the earth._ "And they are in St. Mungo's now," Neville finished.

Tonks had wrapped her arms around the startled boy even before he was through speaking. "I'm so sorry," she spoke near the smaller boy's ear.

"I'm not ashamed, or anything," the boy spoke up. "I'm very proud of my parents."

"You should be," Tonks sniffed. How could she have gotten so upset about a stupid seventh year Ravenclaw when this poor boy... Tonks actually felt worse for him than for Harry Potter. Not as many people even knew anything about Neville Longbottom, but he must have suffered so much. It might have been easier if his parents were just gone instead of being- shells, from what she had heard. Tonks almost couldn't look at the boy, not sure if she should speak. "I sort of knew them, your parents," she finally spoke.

"Really?" the innocent young boy turned in her arms to look at her. His bright eyes were so close to hers, excited but sad. _Poor boy._

"Yeah. I mean, I don't remember much. I was just a little girl. But our families were in the same crowd. Defending people against You-Know-Who and everything. My parents are Andromeda and Ted Tonks. I'm just Tonks. I heard some things back then because people- you know- some adults speak in front of little children like they aren't even there," Tonks spoke to the very intent boy. "Everyone wanted your parents to go into hiding like the Potters did. I don't really remember the Potters at all. I think they left even before Harry was born. But your parents wouldn't go. I think they sent you away actually, do be with your grandmother, and they would visit you when they could. I never met you. But your parents wouldn't go when there was fighting. I wanted to be an auror already, and I looked up to your mum so much."

Tonks hesitated, thinking of her childhood, growing up during a wizarding war, "She was the one- she told us that my cousin had gone bad," Tonks said, wanting to tell him everything she knew, even though she had trouble talking. "That was the day after the war ended. They had been friends back to their school days, I think. She was really nice, and sad because of Sirius and the Potters, but she was also excited that the war was finally over. She was going to go get you soon, and she couldn't help but talk about it. She said she'd bring you back the next day so that I could meet you. But- then everything else happened. I'm so sorry. I don't know if they even had a chance to go see you again or not. I would guess they didn't, since you weren't hurt, were you?" she asked, holding him tighter. It was in her nature to be a hugger. Tonks hoped she wasn't scaring the poor boy with being so close to an older witch he had barely met, but he didn't seem to mind too much.

"No, I was still with Gran. And it's fine. Thank you very much for telling me. What- um- brings you out here anyway?" She couldn't blame him for changing the uncomfortable subject. They were both out well after curfew, but they were in one of the lesser known about passages, so Tonks felt pretty secure about them being from the prying eyes of people like Filch.

Tonks sighed, loosening her hold. "I was meeting a stupid boy. I dated him for three weeks for some reason, until tonight. Don't turn out like the rest of them, okay?" she asked Neville. She sighed again, "He- uh asked me to change, like change my body, and I wouldn't. I'm- a- metamorphamagus, which means I can change how I look. But I- I didn't really want to do what he wanted me to do."

"Well, you're better off without him, right?" Neville asked, the sweet innocence of youth. "There's no use staying with the wrong guy, because you might just miss the right one, right?"

"I'm not supposed to be getting wisdom from what- an eleven year old?" Tonks laughed. "You'll be quite a catch for some girl one day, you know? I bet you'll be really cute too." Neville blushed dark enough that Tonks could clearly see it in the corridor lit only by her wand. He was a cute kid with a baby-fat sort of round face. "What brings _you_ out here anyway?" she asked, changing the subject for him.

"I was lost," Neville admitted. "I don't remember the password to the Gryffindor common room anyway, and the portrait won't just let me in. I've asked before," he complained lightly.

"The Gryffindor password right now is 'griffin's guide,' and you have to not ask how this Hufflepuff knows that," she laughed. "I can lead you back there though. We're not far," Tonks smiled. She made a face and turned her hair pink.

Neville gasped, "That's so cool."

"Yeah, well I can't get away with pink hair during the day, but I figured if we're breaking curfew already..." she smiled. "If I were a Slytherin, of course, I'd turn into someone else to get them in trouble for being out late. But I'll take my positive and negative points as they come. The honest Hufflepuff way, I suppose," she admitted.

"The hat thought about putting me in Hufflepuff," Neville said quietly as they walked. "It was quiet at first for so long that I thought it was just going to tell me that I couldn't go to Hogwarts at all," Neville confided. "But then it talked about Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. "I don't know what made it think I could be a Gryffindor. I can't even look at one of my teachers without shaking," he admitted. "No one else thinks I belong in Gryffindor already. I can tell."

"I'm sure there's a reason. But you can be an honorary Hufflepuff, a great honor, I assure you," she told the younger boy. "I remember you now though. You were under there so long that there were some people wondering if you were long enough to call a hat stall, so you must be almost half and half anyway," Tonks smiled. "Sometimes I think the hat even gets it wrong, but not for you, I don't think," she said, studying the young boy as they walked. "We'll just have to see," Tonks said. "I'll be sad that I won't be around Hogwarts to see you grow up, Neville Longbottom," Tonks said as they walked in the direction of the Gryffindor portrait hole. Tonks was already planning out how she would make it all the way back down to the Hufflepuff common room on the first floor without detection.

"Thanks for taking me back," Neville whispered as they made their way quickly down the final corridor. Tonks managed to only half trip over her feet once in the entire walk, and it was when they had almost made it back to Gryffindor territory, but she caught herself quickly on poor Neville's shoulder, glad that he didn't buckle too. _Clumsier than a first year, I am, ugh_.

The Fat Lady did not look at all pleased when the two arrived so late at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. She looked particularly unimpressed when Tonks, a non-Gryffindor, had to remind Neville of the password again before he could scramble through the hole, waving at Tonks as he left. Somehow a terrible night hadn't ended too badly for her after all. At least she had helped someone else.

*****Tonks*****

"Wotcher, Neville," Tonks greeted. "What are you up to?" the older girl asked as she sat down beside the boy who had been alone under a tree.

"Identifying plants," Neville said, holding up the large book in his lap that seemed to be about plants of some sort. "Even common plants that grow wild on the grounds can have magical uses and properties. Mostly in potions," Neville went on.

"I thought you hated potions," Tonks asked curiously.

"Well," Neville hesitated. "I think it's more that Professor Snape makes me really nervous. And I'm sort of clumsy," he admitted.

"Well, you're talking to the queen of clumsiness here," Tonks dismissed.

"But I really like Herbology. And I might not hate potions so much except for Professor Snape..." Neville sounded almost wistful. "I'm no good at magic really, almost a squib I think," the younger boy said, looking down, but not really even looking at his book anymore.

"Nonsense, Neville, you're here, aren't you?" Tonks prodded. "Your problem was being sorted into Gryffindor. Snape hates Gryffindors the most. Honestly, Hufflepuff and even Ravenclaw get less attention from just about everyone, but I don't let it bother me. It hits the younger Hufflepuffs each year, but we grow out of it in time.

"You really think Hufflepuff is ignored?" the younger boy asked innocently.

Tonks gave him the look of a slightly time-worn Hufflepuff, "Gold and rubies, silver and emeralds, bronze and saphires, black and yellow... What do you think? What even are the stones in the Hufflepuff hour glass? Does anyone even pay attention? It sounds like first, second, third, and honorable mention. But Hufflepuffs aren't supposed to care. We are supposed to be as incredibly good and kind as Helga Hufflepuff herself. We try, you know, almost all of us anyway, but it's a lot to live up to when other students are more concerned with Quidditch Cups, House Cups, and OWL scores. Not to mention the NEWTs," Tonks said with a slight grimace.

Tonks continued, "And Ravenclaw too. There are tons of smarts people in there, each year. I've heard the competition is pretty brutal actually for the top spots. But this year I've heard more combined about a smart little first year Gryffindor girl. Do you think a smart girl in Ravenclaw would have that much attention?"

"Yeah, I guess I understand," Neville said, sounding sympathetic. "But I'm not much of a Gryffindor really. I'm terrified of every new thing. I was sent to the hospital wing after my first time on a broom, and I've never won a single point for my house," Neville admitted.

"Eh, you will. And the point system isn't that great anyway," Tonks dismissed easily. "And everyone knows deep down that Hufflepuff is the best, not to say anything negative about your house," Tonks said lightly. "I've had lots of Gryffindor friends. But don't worry about Snape, Neville. You'll do fine in your other courses, I'm sure. And magical strength isn't that important anyway," Tonk tried to comfort him.

"Yeah? Maybe I will work with plants someday. Maybe magical creatures too, though I can't even keep track of my own toad," Neville admitted. "I've talked to a third year, and Professor Kettleburn's lesson plans sound really interesting," Neville smiled.

"Ah, they're mostly pretty boring if you ask me. I hear from mum that he used to bring crazy things to class, and do even wilder things when he was even younger. But then he lost about half of his other leg and the hand, and slowed down, I guess."

"Well, I think I might like him better this way anyway," Neville admitted shyly.

Tonks laughed. "Just wait, Neville, you'll have your share of adventures. Every Hogwarts student does, especially Gryffindors."

"Well, I think I've had enough," Neville stated. "I've fallen off a broom, been locked out after curfew, and nearly been eaten by a giant three-headed dog! Hogwarts is definitely not the safest place on earth."

"What?" Tonks asked, confused, but not thinking her young friend was one to brag by making up stories.

"Oh," Neville said, looking more embarrassed. "I probably shouldn't talk about it, but you wouldn't tell anyone?" he asked but didn't wait for an answer, clearly just trusting her. "I was locked out again, maybe a week after I met you, and ran into some other Gryffindors in my year, and we were running from Filch, and found it by accident. That's what's in the third floor out of bounds area. And it's guarding something. That's all I know. It was giant and really scary, and I haven't let myself get locked out after curfew since then. I make sure to be inside very early, so I don't miss other people, in case I forgot the password," Neville explained quickly as Tonks's mind reeled. A three-headed giant dog in Hogwarts? Creatures that strange weren't even in the forest, in Tonks's exploring experience, not that she ever ventured too far in.

"You're serious, Neville?" Tonks asked, still only half believing it.

"Yeah. I wish I wasn't. I had thought that Filch and Mrs. Norris were scary, but I would have run to stand at Filch's feet. Or even Sn- no actually, as silly as it sounds, I might rather go back to the dog then be alone with Professor Snape," Neville shrugged sheepishly.

"Well damn," Tonks whistled. "I won't tell anyone of course, but I wish my friend Charlie was still around to tell. He is learning about Dragons in Romania now, and he would have loved to see the beast. It sounds like Hagrid's kind of thing too."

Neville shrugged. "I just know that I'm going to stay away," he said.

"Well, you're probably smarter than Charlie and Hagrid. Probably than me too for that matter, though I wouldn't mess with such magical beasts. Wizards are at least a little more predictable, I think, even criminals," Tonks voiced before changing the subject to lighter matters. How much trouble can a bunch of first year Gryffindors possibly get into?

*****Tonks*****

There was a crowd gathered around the points hourglasses when Tonks slipped down the stairs, rather late for breakfast. The cause was immediately evident. Someone from Gryffindor was probably going through hell right now. Gryffindor had been in the lead for house points last night, and now they were now even lower than Hufflepuff, (which was unfortunately saying a lot), despite their quidditch wins. It never seemed quite fair that sports were worth so many points at an educational establishment in the first place, but the House Cup was often determined by the Quidditch Cup, which was not a traditional Hufflepuff specialty.

Even Ravenclaws and other Hufflepuffs seemed annoyed at the change in points, because Slytherin was on top again, like they had been for every year of Tonks's time here. They were certainly helped by Snape venting anger on the other three houses and pretending that his Snakes were perfect little angels. Tonks personally thought that if Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were upset with Slytherins winning, then they should try doing it themselves, instead of moaning about Gryffindor losing their chance. _It wasn't like there were only two houses in the school._

Tonks did scan the Gryffindor table and was mildly surprised that Neville wasn't even there. She quickly looked for other Gryffindors that she thought were first years, Harry Potter and that lot. Tonks wasn't sure that she's ever seen as depressed looking set of kids. Where was Neville?

Tonks didn't manage to find Neville until after dinner that night. She found him hunched over being a tree on the grounds, hardly surprising for the young, budding herbologist.

"What's going on, Neville?" Tonks asked, trying to sound sympathetic already, as she had an idea by now what he would say.

"I lost Gryffindor fifty points. Fifty. We lost a hundred and fifty points last night. And now everyone hates me. I mean, I was just incompetent before, maybe losing a few points from Professor Snape here and there. But fifty points?" Neville ranted. The poor boy looked close to tears.

"What happened, Neville?" Tonks asked.

Neville looked like he was about to explain before he turned to her. "You won't tell anyone?"

"Hufflepuff's honor," Tonks pledged seriously.

"I heard Draco Malfoy say that Ron and Hermione were taking a dragon from Hagrid to help it escape with Ron's brother, and I didn't want them to get into trouble, so I went looking for them. Hermione says it wasn't a joke and there really was a dragon, but it doesn't even matter anymore. We've lost the House Cup for sure now, and no one will even speak to me," Neville explained.

"Okay," Tonks said, soaking everything in. "Ron is the youngest Weasley boy, right? His brother Charlie does work with dragons in Romania now, so that part checks out at least. How does everyone even know that you lost points?"

Neville looked like the question had never even occurred to him. "I don't know. Harry and Hermione were there, maybe Ron I guess, because he'd know. I don't think Malfoy would have known about me, because he was already sent away before McGonagall found me. No one means to tell, but word gets around fast somehow. Of course, most of the older years don't know who I am, so I guess they don't all know _who_ to hate, but most of them who know me will talk to me."

"They shouldn't have told," Tonks said simply, "Though you can't expect first years to realize everything. I'm sure they didn't _mean_ to, but you never rat on a classmate; that's the Hufflepuff way anyway. Some of the younger years get a bit legalistic about not telling anyone anything sometimes, but their hearts mean right at least. Unless there's something too dangerous or stupid, of course," Tonks amended.

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have been out there in the first place," Neville spoke up.

"Nonsense. You meant well. If there really was a dragon, then those two could have gotten in huge trouble, much more than school rules. Dragons are serious business, especially with a castle full of underage wizards. If anyone except Hagrid and a couple of first years were involved, I wouldn't believe it at all. But maybe he's crazy enough. But I mean, his hut is made mostly out of wood! How could he expect that to go well?"

"I guess," Neville said noncommittally, clearly still upset. "It's even worse because Hermione won't even speak up in class anymore, and she would win us points all the time in class. And I heard Harry saying that he was thinking about quitting quidditch, which would just make us terrible," Neville added.

"Cheer up, Neville. Your classmates will move on and people will forget about it. I've lost more than my fair share of points for being caught out late," Tonks said. "I lost fifty in a night once. Charlie and I each did when we were caught coming into the castle after midnight his last year. We probably would have lost more if they could prove that we'd been in the forest and the lake. Luckily, I'm not too shabby at drying charms," Tonks laughed. "Usually it's not fifty just for being out late. I think they like to take more if they are pretty sure something worse was going on, like anything with dragons," Tonks tried to joke, though Neville wasn't ready for it.

"People forgave you?" Neville asked.

"Only one of my roommates that woke up when I came in actually knew it was me for sure. And she was annoyed, but she didn't tell anyone. They probably all guessed it was me honestly, but no one was sure. There were maybe a few lower years that were upset with the drop, but points really aren't that big of a deal. The staff should probably have some more objectively rewarded point levels, because getting last and getting second is all the same, and getting first doesn't even seem all that great. It might be nice to have had, say, a week off of homework if the house gets four hundred points, or five hundred for that matter. Just winning the cup is more of a Slytherin and Gryffindor incentive, I think."

"Maybe," Neville admitted.

"Well, you can always find me if you want a chat," Tonks offered. "And things will get better eventually," Tonks said, ruffling the top of Neville's hair. "Buck up, kid. It will be fine."

"Thanks, Tonks," Neville smiled at last.

"Now, let's go eat dinner," Tonks chided, remembering that she hadn't seen him in the Great Hall at all today. "We've missed the meal in the Great Hall, but I'll show you to the kitchen," she offered, as the two made off towards the castle and to the kitchen, conveniently located near the Hufflepuff common room.

*****Tonks*****

The owl from the ministry arrived just after her first class, when she was outside during her long break before lunch. Excitement and terror mixed as she watched the owl fly towards her, knowing that she was the only recipient around that it could be heading towards. She had sent her application to the auror training program less than a week ago, and she had never heard of an applicant receiving any word until NEWT scores were known.

They couldn't have decided already that she wasn't worth bothering with, could they? She couldn't think what else a ministry owl could possibly be talking about. She patted the owl's head after retrieving the letter, and the owl flew off without waiting for a reply. She felt bad that she hadn't anything to feed him, but he hadn't come at breakfast like the normal overnight owl post owls. Too many owls couldn't be flying about the country in daylight, or the muggles might find it odd. Tonks knew that her thoughts were only her way of stalling before opening the letter with its ministry insignia stamped on the front.

Bravery, she told herself as she stared at the letter in her lap. She wanted to be an _auror_ after all.

Holding her breath, she tore open the heavy envelope and tried to read what was inside. "Pleased to tell you... ...special abilities particularly interesting... ...accelerated program... ...Contengent on receiving at least five "A" level NEWT scores..." Goodness, that was significantly lower than typical auror requirements, but Tonks wasn't in much of a questioning mood. Excitement and nerves. She probably wouldn't be what they expected, but she wouldn't let them kick her out. She knew exactly how valuable metamorphamagus skills could be, and she just wouldn't let her inability to walk around without falling over her own feet get in her way. If it helped, she could somehow run significantly better than she walked. Her feet actually had less of a chance of catching on each other.

Thoughts zipped through her head, mostly of wanting to tell someone but not knowing who to tell. Most of her friends were older and had already graduated. The girls in her year were nice, but they were more interested in "pretty hair" and didn't know why on earth Tonks would want to be an auror when she could be a happy housewife. Not to think badly of them, but they were just never like Tonks. The girls in the year above had been awesome, and their quidditch team was distinctly worse without two of them now.

Tonks smiled as she saw Neville walking towards the greenhouses. He couldn't have a class there for at least ten minutes, so he must just be heading over early. "Hey, Neville, come over here," she shouted at the first year.

Neville smiled and hurried over.

As soon as she didn't have to shout, she held up her letter and declared, "I got in. To auror training already. I mean, it's probably just because I'm a metamorphamagus, but I still got in, right? They seem pretty eager to train me and everything. It was signed by the Director, Rufus Scrimgeor himself," she said, almost too excited to contain herself.

"That's great," Neville said, giving his friend a hug. Neville looked more surprised than Tonks did at his own action. _My hugging habit is rubbing off on him_ , she thought, smiling to herself. "And it's not just because of your metamorphamagus abilities. You've worked hard, and you deserve it," Neville reassured her adorably.

"Thanks Neville, now run onto class or you won't beat the little brunette over there," Tonks gestured to a girl that she thought was the smart little Gryffindor first year walking towards the greenhouses. Two boys were talking to her as they walked more slowly, several paces behind. One was Harry Potter, Tonks noted, and the other had to be Ron Weasley.

"It's okay. I'll never beat Hermione Granger at anything, even just at arriving to class early, but that's okay. She's pretty nice to me; she helps me in potions class sometimes," Neville smiled.

Neville turned to her again, not yet running off for his class, "You'll be a great auror. You're one of the bravest people I know. I'd say you were an honorary Gryffindor if I thought I was enough of a Gryffindor myself to give it to anyone else," Neville said before hurrying in the other direction.

"Just you wait, Neville," Tonks half-yelled after him, "You'll be braver than them all. Just wait and see."

The boy waved back to her, looking embarrassed but happy nonetheless. Neville would have his own moments to shine, Tonks was sure.

*****Tonks*****

Tonks sat in the Great Hall at her very last Hogwarts Feast. Impending pressure of real life mixed with the faint disappointment from the green hangings that decorated the hall yet again, just as they had at the end of each of her years at the castle. The year had been fairly quiet as a whole, except for the whole troll thing and whatever Harry Potter and his friends got themselves into a few days before. Rumors had spread around that couldn't _possibly_ be true. Tonks had tried to corner Neville multiple times with little success to see if he knew the story any better. He seemed embarrassed and ran off quickly whenever she tried.

Dumbledore was saying something that Tonks barely paid attention to until he gave a large number of points to Gryffindor in his speech. Tonks's head shot up. She thought that there would be a good story there at least. The points were given to Charlie's little brother, the smart Gryffindor girl whose name she still couldn't remember, and Harry Potter. Tonks certainly hadn't been keeping track of the exact point count, but it didn't take a genius to realize that points were useless at this point in the year unless Gryffindor was going to win the cup. As strange as Dumbledore was, Tonks didn't think that he would raise his precious Gryffindor's hopes so high needlessly.

Still, apparently someone was doing the math, because there were whispers that Gryffindor and Slytherin were tied. Tonks wondered for a moment if a tie for the cup was possible, before Dumbledore continued speaking and called a name that made Tonks smile more than anything that night, "Neville Longbottom." Neville had just been given ten points for standing up against his friends, which certainly sounded interesting.

Tonks enjoyed the feast, celebrating with the rest of the school minus Slytherin, though she did feel a bit bad for them, the younger ones at least who hadn't already won for the past six or seven years. She mostly felt proud of Neville and was determined to tell him so. "So, how did you stand up to your friends?" Tonks asked, catching Neville before he left the Great Hall. "I can't _believe_ I didn't get the full story from you before now," Tonks teased lightly.

Neville blushed adorably, "Well, I guess I didn't really want to talk about it. It wasn't anything really," he said modestly. "I told them that they couldn't leave because it was a bad idea and I wouldn't let them lose any more points for Gryffindor. Herm- uh they cast a full body bind curse on me and left me there though. I couldn't move 'till a sixth year found me the next morning," Neville finished speaking in a mumbled voice.

"Well, it was brave of you to do something like that, and I'm proud of you," Tonks said, smiling leaning down to give him a kiss on the cheek. Neville blushed further and didn't have any response that recognizable as words, though there was a bit of stammering. Tonks giggled, a very un-Tonks sound. "We have to keep in touch with letters, alright? Hufflepuffs don't let friends go, you hear me?" Tonks smiled, ruffling the younger boy's hair.

"Yeah, sounds great, Tonks," Neville replied, smiling before running off to follow the other Gryffindors, probably ready to celebrate their House Cup and pack to go home. Tonks was ready to go to her own home for a while before looking for her own flat, if she could afford such a thing on an auror trainee salary, if the Ministry held up with their bargain to take her.

Tonks's mind drifted back to Neville as she walked back to her dormitory for she guessed the last time. The boy could have been the best type of Hufflepuff, the sort the house would have been proud to claim. Badgers could be among the fiercest of beasts if provoked correctly. She wasn't as sure about the actual Hufflepuff first years as she was about Neville. The Hufflepuff lot in that year seemed so young and immature compared to Neville, but maybe they would grow up fine in their own time. Tonks hoped that young Neville wouldn't get lost with all his fellow lion cubs before he learned his own strength. Tonks promptly reminded herself to stop philosophizing and enjoy her last hours at Hogwarts. Maybe she would stop by the kitchens as well. She likely had a lot of self-cooked meals ahead of her, which would doubtless have her begging for the house elves within the week.

 **A/N: So I love strange pairings, and this story just came to me, though it's taken some time to iron out. This story will eventually be a romance, but not until he's old enough that it isn't creepy, I promise. This will be a relatively short story, by the way, but I have some other stories if you're looking for things to read. If I can say one thing about this story, it's that I love the title way more than those of the other stories I have written.**

 **And just for reference, I know it is usually assumed that Tonks graduated the year before the books started, but I maintain that cannon itself is ambiguous about timelines of many characters, and that it can be interpreted that Tonks's last year at Hogwarts was our first with the books, so I enjoy reading and writing her in either year to suit my needs better. Also, this is just fanfiction… Hope you enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2- Watering

Chapter 2- Watering

 **A/N: This is a filler chapter waiting for Neville to grow up a bit. Still, I hope you enjoy!**

Tonks was always glad to receive any post that wasn't a bill or the Daily Prophet. Neville was actually more consistent in writing to her than any of her classmates had been, and Tonks found herself making more effort in writing him back than she did anyone else, even her own parents. The boy really would have made a good Hufflepuff. They'd written back and forth during the summer and continued as Neville went back to school and Tonks began training at the Ministry. She told him as much as she could about her accelerated auror training without violating anything confidential. She was receiving personal instruction from Alastor- "Mad-Eye" Moody himself. Somehow the man with a wooden leg was better at stealth that the eighteen-year old metamorphamagus, but at least he hadn't given up on her yet. Tonks even suspected that she might be somewhat of a favorite of his, though he'd never admit it.

In turn, Neville would regale her with tales of Hogwarts life, making Tonks feel more than a bit homesick for the old castle. The new Defense teacher seemed even more incompetent than Quirrell or any that Tonks had had before. Tonks could not help but feel a bit vindicated when it seemed that the great Gilderoy Lockheart was at best an idiot, and at worst, probably a fraud. Tonks had never liked his public persona, and had refused to read his acclaimed "defensive" books, despite her mother's incessant prodding that they would be "excellent auror training."

As the year went on, tales of cornish pixies and mandrakes were replaced with worrying news of students, particularly muggleborns being petrified, of all things. Attacking the vile cat made sense, because to be honest, even the most dedicated cat lover hated Filch's companion. But who would attack students at Hogwarts?

There were rumors of some "Chamber of Secrets" being opened, which Tonks had certainly never heard of before. Neville also mentioned in at least half of his letters that he was worried about the youngest Weasley, the only girl. She was always looking ill and worried about every new attack even more than the other students. Tonks wondered if Neville was having his first little crush, but he didn't even seem to notice when Tonks teased him about it.

 **Tonks,**

 **The teachers have tried raising security, but nothing seems to work. Ginny is looking more ill every day, and even all of her older brothers don't seem to be paying much attention. I think it's worrying her more than anyone else, even though she's a pureblood. I guess it could be a coincidence that whatever it is has attacked muggleborns. The first one hit was really Filch in a way, and I know I'm almost a squib too.**

 **~Neville.**

Tonks frowned slightly as she tried to quickly formulate a response. His letters were getting shorter as she could tell that Neville was becoming more worried about whatever was going on at that castle.

 _Neville,_

 _First of all, you are nowhere near a squib and shouldn't say things like that. I know it doesn't sound like me to say it, but be sure to stay safe and out of trouble, especially when I'm not there to look after my junior lion-badger. I'm sure you can look after the little Weasley girl yourself. Talk to her a bit- it would probably give her quite a thrill, I'd think._

 _Stay safe,_

 _Tonks_

Even with work and education between them, the strange friends managed to write back and forth at least once a week.

His most worrisome letter came after a particularly long day in training. The Hogwarts school owl seemed agitated that it must have had to wait to deliver its message.

 **Ginny has been taken into the Chamber of Secrets. She must have known something. They could shut down Hogwarts after this.**

 **~N**

Tonks didn't even know what to write back after that. She didn't know that her life could feel like it revolved around letters from a twelve-year-old, but it seemed that everything important was happening at Hogwarts, which was saying a lot since she worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement- weren't aurors supposed to handle difficult things like this? Tonks vaguely thought back to her few visits in the summers to the Burrow to see Charlie and Bill. Ginny Weasley had been the tiniest little scrap running around, never wanting to be outmatched by her much older brothers, and the little girl had idolized a younger Tonks. How could Hogwarts close? A thousand years of educating the children of wizarding Brittan to be ended in a year?

Tonks half-wrote letters to everyone from the Headmaster, to the Board, to the Minister of Magic, scrapping each one far before completion. She wasn't sure how she kept breathing until Neville's final message of the school year, just hours after his last one. Tonks hadn't even formulated a response worth sending to Neville let alone anyone else.

 **Tonks,**

 **I don't know how they did it, but everything seems okay now. We don't really know any details, but everything is supposed to be over now. Harry and Ron saved Ginny, and Professor Lockheart was involved somehow, but he was hurt and won't be teaching anymore. I probably shouldn't be happy about that. I guess we will need another Defense teacher next year, but that isn't really very surprising. I know I wouldn't take the job after what's happened to the last ones. I don't even know what I should be thinking, but I just hope that everything is better now. Even with everything that has happened, and with all of the negative parts, Hogwarts is special, and I really need it to be there.**

 **Neville**

Tonks smiled. Even though she had graduated, she still needed Hogwarts too. It was so big and solid, timeless, dependable. The idea that it could have ended shook everything that Tonks knew. It was nice not to have your beliefs shattered so terribly that they couldn't be patched back together.

*****Tonks*****

Summer was not a break for auror training, so after her own graduation, Tonks had actually begun marking the passage of time in her head by Neville's school years. During the summer between Neville's second and third years, Tonks was as shocked as anyone else by the news of the escape of Sirius Black. Fear, betrayal, and the small, very conflicted hope of catching him herself. But could she really do anything to cousin Sirius? Could she send him off to get the dementor's kiss? Because that was what faced him after an Askaban escape. They couldn't put him back and risk him escaping again. Would it be kinder just to kill him in action? _Could she even do that?_

Realistically, she wouldn't have the opportunity to face that decision. They would find him soon; one man couldn't run forever. The Ministry was shifting people around, accelerating training programs, all because of one wizard. But even now they wouldn't give her any more than simple grunt work, even if it was grunt work that someone more experienced usually performed. Tonks only noticed the change in seasons as the change in subject matter of Neville's letters that signified the start of the school year again.

 **N. Tonks,**

 **I know it's somewhat melodramatic to say that life might as well be over, but we faced boggarts today in Defense class and mine was Professor Snape.** _ **Snape of all things.**_ **I'm sure he'll hate me even more after he hears, and news like that spreads quickly. The whole class saw me change it into wearing Gran's clothes, complete with bag and vulture hat. I should probably write a will, because I won't survive my next Potions class. I really like the new Defense teacher though, Professor Remus Lupin.**

 **Neville**

Tonks paused momentarily over her first initial, but smiled as she read the note from her younger friend. She was surprised to recognize the name he listed, Remus Lupin. Tonks thought for a second before realizing where she knew the person. _Remus Lupin._ He was one of Sirius's friends, years ago, and Sirius had brought them all around often enough since he spent so much time with the only family who didn't hate him after the Blacks had more or less been done with him, even if she was pretty sure it had been Sirius's decision to leave. Was the abandonment of his family what had caused him to go so bad in the end? Was he tired of being the black sheep in the Black family? Remus Lupin- he had brought this train of unhappy thoughts. Yes, Remus was sweet to her when she was just a little girl. He wouldn't tease her like Sirius and his other friends, even if they were all just having fun. Tonks shook off the thought. Dwelling on such old memories could only lead to more heart ache. She tried to refocus and write back to her young friend. She tried to think of some bright spot in this ordeal. She would be near Hogwarts again soon, even if it was in circumstances that she didn't wish.

 _Neville,_

 _Don't worry, people will have forgotten soon, and I'm sure someone else had a worse boggart anyway. But hey, maybe I'll get to see you on Hogsmead trips this year. We trainees will be rotating around as extra security at Hogsmead until everything is cleared up, especially on Hogwarts's Hogsmead weekends, if the school doesn't become too afraid to have them at all. Maybe I can see you there._

 _Tonks_

She sent the Hogwarts owl back with her letter before finishing her morning scramble to get dressed presentably enough for yet another day of training. At least the owl had caught her before she arrived at the Ministry this time.

*****Tonks*****

Tonks went to work on the first Hogsmead weekend with more excitement than the situation probably merited. She had been stationed there for the entire week before, but having only been to Hogsmead before when other students were there, the place seemed more than a little deserted on the "normal" days that she had been posted there off and on in the last months. She knew that she shouldn't be exited, because it was a terrible situation that prompted additional Hogsmead security, but the enthusiasm in the students was absolutely infectious, even if most of the people that she knew had already graduated.

Tonks spotted Neville and attempted to sneak up behind him. Neville managed not to laugh too hard when she fell on her face right behind him. In auror robes even; she was an embarrassment to the department. "Watcher Neville," Tonks mumbled. Neville at least graciously helped her to her feet. Tonks realized that she didn't have to look down as far as she expected to look Neville in the eye. They had kept in contact so much since she graduated that it didn't seem like nearly a year and a half had passed since she had seen him last. But it should hardly be surprising for kids to grow, Tonks thought as the two ambled around the streets. Most students had taken shelter in buildings to avoid the chilling weather.

"Scary about Black, isn't it?" Tonks asked before she could kick herself into silence. It wasn't like she wanted to talk about the circumstances that led to extra security on Hogsmead, and then she had gone and brought it up herself.

"Yeah," Neville admitted. "I don't like to think about people being able to escape from Azkaban. There's a lot more people locked up that deserve to stay in there," Neville said.

Tonks was silent, thinking about the people who had taken Neville's parents from him when he was just a baby.

Neville spoke again. "Is the rest of your family doing okay with all of this?" he asked quietly.

Tonks's eyes snapped to his at his words. _What about her family? As in implying that they would have more reason to care than the general populous?_ "How do you know about my family, Neville?" Tonks asked quickly, trying not to sound too accusatory of the younger wizard. She was thinking back and wondering if she had ever mentioned that her cousin was Sirius Black. Tonks had actually been more open with Neville than with most people, but Sirius wasn't a topic that she brought up or even tried to think about. It wasn't like she had expected Sirius Black to affect her life again. No, she had mentioned him, that first night she met Neville and told him about sort of knowing his mother. Had she even mentioned Sirius by name? That had been a wretched night.

Neville shrugged, "Even though we know that muggleborns and half-bloods are just as good as purebloods, Gran has made sure that I kept up with knowing about pureblood society," Neville explained. "The Blacks are an Ancient and Noble family, which isn't just bragging. They traditionally have a Wizengamot seat, though it's been empty often since your great grandfather passed. Your great uncle never took the seat, but he didn't let your grandfather have it either. Since both have passed now as well, no one has clear claim. I believe the Malfoys are still trying to take control of the seat at the moment, because of Narcissa Malfoy's line. The Malfoys already have one of their own already, with a representative standing in place, ever since the last war, keeping a lower profile even though Mr. Malfoy plays a large role behind the scenes of several Ministry departments," Neville explained as if it were common knowledge. She'd never thought of Neville as someone who would know anything about pureblood society, but he seemed to know more about her own family than she did. "But with Sirius Black still alive, the legal issues are difficult. Many of the laws are old and still talk about inheritance following only the males in the family, even though several women use their families' seats now," Neville said quietly, Tonks listening to his every word. It probably wasn't a good sign on her part if a thirteen year old boy knew more about her extended family than she did.

"Well, at least his life is doing something good then?" Tonks said gruffly.

"Yeah," Neville said softly.

"You should do well in school with a memory like that," Tonks teased lightly, trying to raise her own spirits as well as Neville's.

"Well, I have incentive with Gran watching so closely. You would think that Professor Snape would have the same affect, because he scares me a lot more, but I guess it's just too much," Neville shrugged, a shy teenager again.

"Does your family have a seat? In the Wizengamot?" Tonks asked, curious for more information again. "I just assumed that the Wizengamot was appointed or voted on or something. I guess I've never heard of an election or anything of the sort though. It just doesn't seem right, to keep the power only with the old pureblood families," Tonks said, realizing she never really questioned much about the Ministry she herself worked for.

"It isn't right, but it's always been that way. And yeah, we have a representative to fill our seat. Gran can't sit in it because she is only married into the family. She wants me to- when I'm of age-" Neville shivered, "But I think our representative does just fine," Neville said hastily. "He talks to us often when issues arise that need to be voted on, and he's an honest man."

Tonks looked around, making sure that they were still alone. They'd wandered near the Shreiking Shack for privacy, because students rarely visited the supposedly haunted place. Tonks told herself that the most damaging spirit she had met was Peeves, and he wasn't so bad once you got on his good side. She brought herself back to the less pleasant discussion at hand, "So you know about all of my family?" Tonks asked nervously. "And you don't hate me?" she ventured softly. Tonks looked slightly down at him, acknowledging again mentally that he would already be almost her height in her "natural" form. Of course, she would also look more like her psychotic aunt in that form, so she avoided it when possible.

"It's not your fault," Neville said, placing a hand on her arm awkwardly. He would know exactly what she was thinking about, particularly her evil aunt and that side of the family. "You aren't responsible for any aunts, uncles, or cousins, just for yourself."

"I'm really sorry," Tonks mumbled. "It's a big part of why I wanted to be an auror, you know. Your- your mum was nice, and I wanted to be like her, and then my own so-called family... I just wanted to redeem the family, I guess. My mum's not like them, you know. You'd like her, I'm sure," Tonks spoke quickly.

"I'm sure I would," Neville said, actually smiling somehow, "Maybe I'll meet her one day."

They left uncomfortable conversations behind and attempted to enjoy the afternoon. The day at Hogsmead made Tonks feel like a student again, even if she was in auror robes instead of Hogwarts ones. Tonks rationalized that she was here to protect the students, so visiting typical student stops like Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks was practically required for her job. It was definitely the most pleasant day of work, and it made Tonks await the next one.

*****Tonks*****

Tensions were rising at the Ministry and evidently at Hogwarts as well as months had passed without capturing Black. Tonks couldn't think of him as "Sirius" anymore because it hurt too much. She had thought that she had recovered from what she had felt was a personal betrayal years ago, but evidently not. Tonks had hoped that the students at Hogwarts could at least be isolated from the problem when they stayed within the walls, but apparently even that was too much to hope for. There were some whispers that Black was after Harry Potter, but Tonks could still barely believe that.

Months wore on for Tonks with growing frustration, feeling that even though she was declared a fully qualified auror just before the the end of the year, she still knew nothing of the Black case. And apparently being an official auror meant that she could fill out a bunch of paper work while the other trainees had some amount of fun patrolling Hogsmead for the students' last visit before the winter holidays.

*****Tonks*****

Even Christmas didn't seem as much fun now that she wasn't a kid anymore. She went to her family's house, her mother bemoaned over her hair, green that day, which Tonks herself thought was quite festive. Her father would good naturedly tell her mother to lay off, and Andromeda Tonks quickly would. Tonks wasn't even sure if her mother really minded her hair anymore, or just thought it was her motherly duty to attempt to make her only child look respectable. Her parents would ask about her work, congratulating her on becoming a full auror so quickly. Not a single mention was made of Sirius Black, though Tonks was sure her mother must have been thinking about him just as much as she was.

Tonks begged out of staying at her family's house for the night. It didn't seem right to stay in her old room when she was trying to be independent in her own flat. And, as much as she loved her family, she could only take so much. She was surprised when she arrived home to see one of the Longbottom family owls, one she recognized from Neville's letters over the summer. They had never exchanged so much as Christmas cards before, but there was a lumpy package waiting for her. She tore it open to see a Weird Sisters t-shirt, when she vaguely recalled mentioning to Neville was her favorite band. She smiled, clutching the shirt to her. She'd have to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow if she could to get Neville something in return. Hmm, maybe something in Hufflepuff colors or with a badger on it, she thought with a smile.

*****Tonks*****

 **NT** **,**

 **It's all my fault. I left a bloody list of the password out, right where he could find them. Sirius Black was in our dormitory. But I don't know why he didn't do more when he was right there. It doesn't make sense. He could have killed all of us in our sleep, but he didn't. It doesn't add up. I think there must be something that we don't know about going on. Some plan. It's still all my fault though, and it would be if we were dead. I should have been chucked out of this place on my head years ago.**

 **-NL**

Tonks read the note several time. Neville, even highly distressed, was picking up on what everyone else seemed to be ignoring. Logic could be clouded by fear very easily. It just didn't make sense if Sirius- if Prisoner Black- wanted them or at least Harry Potter dead. A man who had killed another wizard and a street full of muggles, and knocked the muggles off at the same time, could kill some sleeping third years in the blink of an eye. _Why didn't he?_ Her heart had been hurt too much to consider something else by this point. But just perhaps there was more to the story of Sirius Black than everyone knew.

It was almost surprising how after the Black break in, everything could return back to being monotonous. Tonks didn't care as much about missing Hogsmead weekends, because Neville had been banned from the trips after the list of passwords incident. The poor boy had been banned from Hogsmead and given detention, which was well enough, but his Head of House also instructed all of the other students not to tell Neville the password when he had forgotten which seemed outright cruel. Neville had only gotten the list in the first place because it was so hard for him to remember the passwords, and the damned new portrait after Sirius- damn it- _Black's_ first break in- changed the password multiple times per week.

Neville's letters didn't have much more interesting than telling of school classes, including Hermione Granger, the little brain, walking out on Trelawney's divination class planning on never returning. Tonks silently congratulated the younger girl. She'd always thought Divination was a bit rot herself, and had not taken the class even though it was supposed to be easy. Then again, she'd taken Muggle Studies instead, and she had loads of muggle cousins and spent time In the muggle world, but whatever, she needed time to focus on the auror prep classes and have some sort of life. It wasn't like scraping by in Potions came easily.

Neville had written about the girl, Hermione, taking three classes at the same time one day, and finding it odd that no one seemed to notice. No one had gotten a straight answer out of the girl anyway, even though her schedule was ridiculous. He also wrote that he was really enjoying his Defense professor's classes, but he was fairly certain the man was a werewolf. Tonks was surprised but smiled at how her young friend seem to intuitively notice oddities, just like he had with the little Weasley girl the year before. Tonks did a bit on investigation before writing back that she didn't think Neville had too much to worry about. The gir's class schedule was easy enough- occasionally students were given Time Turners, heavily regulated by the Ministry. She knew that Bill Weasley had gotten one for a bit, determined to take all of the classes he could. However, he soon decided that the stress of trying to not be seen in the same place as yourself wasn't worth possible benefits of taking more classes. As for the werewolf Professor Lupin, Tonks found documentation of his hiring, including information that he would be on a potion to control his transformations. Tonks felt bad again for the kind young man she'd met as a girl. Had Remus been a werewolf when she met him? Did Sirius know about his friend's affliction? It wasn't a very pureblood supremacist thing to accept half-breeds.

Excitedly, Neville also wrote about Gryffindor winning the Quidditch House Cup, which Tonks was happy enough about, even if she had been really hopeful for the Hufflepuff team. Cedric Diggory had gotten so good at being a seeker, he was the team's first legitimate chance to make a run at the cup in years. Oh well, he still had another year at Hogwarts, so perhaps next year would be Hufflepuff's time, Tonks thought.

*****Tonks*****

Sirius Black had escaped again, this time from Hogwarts. Tonks hadn't even heard that he had been captured on the grounds before she heard that he had gotten away. She received a letter from Neville saying what she had already heard at the Ministry from going in to work the next day. This was one more happening that didn't add up. How on earth could a crazed man that spent twelve years in Azkaban, escaped auror guards, Hogwarts itself, and the Minister of Magic? Tonks supposed she shouldn't be surprised, because he'd escaped out of Azkaban, so Hogwarts couldn't be as difficult, but still. The only thing he hadn't done now was break into Gringotts, but Tonks wouldn't actually doubt his ability to do so. She told herself that she was most certainly not relieved that Sirius Black hadn't been given the dementor's kiss, because if anyone deserved it, he did. She tried not to think about the teenager who had often bounced her on his knee, the young man who had let her fly his broom when she was far too young to do so. She couldn't bear to think about it.


	3. Chapter 3- Budding

Heart of a Hufflepuff- Chapter 3- Budding

 _Neville,_

 _Hey, so I heard who your new defense teacher will be. I'm actually jealous, because I'm sure you'll learn real defense for at least a year, better than all of my years anyway. I really need to tease him that he's only staying a year because he's afraid of the curse on the position. But honestly, I'm relieved he's not going to try to keep it longer, because I rather like the old man. I knew Mad-Eye couldn't actually be content retiring. Don't be intimidated by the crazy eyes (the real one is almost as unsettling as the fake one) and personality, and everything he says. He's a good guy that will prepare you for whatever the world throws at you. Oh, and there's some interesting things going on at Hogwarts this year. I hope I'll get to take some time to come watch it. I'd tell you what it was, but I'd lose my job if someone found out, so you'll just have to wait and see._

 _Tonks_

Tonks sighed as she sealed her letter and sent it off with her owl. She really did wish that she was at Hogwarts this year. If there had been more decent Hogwarts Defense teachers in recent years, Mad-Eye wouldn't have been constantly yelling about how remedial recent recruits had been, complaining about how it had been different in his day. And the Triwizard Tournament- that would be a sight to see. By her seventh year, Tonks was sure that she would have entered it if she'd had the opportunity, maybe even in her sixth, though she would have been terrified at the idea of actually being picked. Since entering wasn't an option anymore, Tonks just hoped that they hadn't added so many new safety measures that it wouldn't even be worth watching, because she planned to make it to as many of the tasks as she could. Her only disappointment came when she heard that the Quidditch Cup would be cancelled this yeah, having Hufflepuff miss their best chance at making a run for the Cup in anyone's memory. But maybe they would supply Hogwart's champion. She didn't know many outside of Hufflepuff that would be seventeen, but her bet was on Cedric Diggory.

*****Tonks*****

The first task sounded so exciting that Tonks was deeply regretting her auror job that had her compiling data from completely untrue reports of Sirius Black sightings from muggles. There had been television advertisements telling about Black's escape, and muggles were not hesitant to claim sightings, all of which were vague, some just saying they saw someone with that length black hair a few weeks ago that looked suspicious. Such was the glamourous life of an auror instead of at Hogwarts where real action was happening, even if it was carefully monitored action. Tonks wasn't sure how the Potter boy had ended up entered in the tournament, and a small part of her ached because he took attention away from Cedric for it. But anyone who believed a fourteen year old could not only get past an age line, but also bewitch ancient artifact into thinking there was a fourth school in the _**TRI**_ wizard Tournament, was stubborn or an idiot. Also, Neville thought the boy was trustworthy. So, instead of going to the first task, which had turned out to be _dragons_ , she had listened to the muggles' phone messages, which confused most of her wizarding colleagues anyway. She had had to content herself with reading about it later in the paper and Neville's letters. Neville was better at telling everything anyway, and he wasn't biased trash like the paper. She was most interested to hear about Cedric, who had apparently transfigured a rock into a dog and tried for a distraction. Tonks thought that he probably should have disillusioned himself too, and then maybe the dragon would have stayed distracted. But, it still sounded like he fared pretty well. The part veela girl sounded interesting, and she had put the dragon to sleep or something. Tonks would admit to herself that it would be pretty cool to meet Victor Krum, and he had done something to the dragon's eyes, which the paper called a Conjunctivitis Curse, which Tonks thought sounded like a disease. Tonks thought that Harry Potter was probably the most fun to watch though, out-flying a dragon.

Tonks had even been jealous hearing about the Yule Ball from Neville, but only because the Weird sisters were playing. Neville had taken lots of pictures of them and even gotten signatures to send her for Christmas. He had been apologetic that he hadn't been able to invite her as his guest. He'd asked McGonagall who had had the nerve to say no, though Tonks understood the old witch. Neville probably had more fun with little Ginny Weasley anyway, even if he claimed it was just so she could go (since third years couldn't go without a date) and he wouldn't have to go alone. She told herself that she was not a grown woman jealous of a thirteen year old for getting to go to a party with a cool band. That Christmas, she had sent Neville a plant that looked vaguely interesting, and Neville had at least acted thrilled over it, though she couldn't imagine it being as good as Donaghan Tremlett:s autograph. Bassists were highly underrated, and he was the most talented of the group.

And then there was February, the long awaited second task. When it actually happened, the second task was boring enough that Tonks sorely regretted that she had even asked off work to be a spectator. It probably lowered her chances of getting to see the third, which _had_ to be better than this one. What on earth were they thinking, setting up stands for people to crowd around a watch the squid for an hour before the contestants made it back up? They were literally just staring at the murky lake. It wasn't exactly riveting, and she had missed seeing them fight _dragons_ months before. The first excitement was when the poor, hysterical French girl surfaced early and unsuccessfully, but Tonks couldn't even understand what she was saying. The only bright spot of the Hogwarts visit was that at least she had managed to sit with Neville. It seemed sad that just about everyone else that she had known at Hogwarts had already graduated. Cedric and the other seventh years were nice enough, but they were only fourth years when Tonks had left, so she didn't really know any of them well.

"So, how's defense class going?" Tonks asked her young companion. The boy had thinned since she'd last seen him, and it was strange to see a bit of stubble on the cheeks and above the lips of his young face. She knew that kids didn't stop growing up just because she was mired in unchanging young adulthood.

"It's going well, though it'll never be my favorite. One day we talked about using your surrounding during a duel, and most people talked about using it defensively, like hiding, but I mentioned that several plants could be used offensively or to set up traps, poisonous or sharp plants especially. Or Devil's Snare for strangulation, and he said that it was an inspired suggestion. Herbology had been going great. Professor Moody actually gave me a Herbology book, maybe because he knows I'm hopeless at Defense and wanted to be nice. I guess he knew my parents when they were aurors, probably. But, the book's great. I actually recognized the plant that Harry used to let him breathe underwater- gillyweed. You couldn't really see it well, but he developed fish-like qualities including gills and flipper-like hands and feet. From the size of the sample, he should have somewhat more than an hour, but I hope he brought extra just in case. It wouldn't be good for it to fade when he was underwater, though I assume the board has safety measures in place- er…" the boy quieted. "Rambling a bit I guess. How are you?"

Tonks laughed and assured her friend that she didn't mind his rambling. "Pretty good, yeah, on to real auror work now, confidential stuff. I've just been placed as a junior member on the Sirius Black case," she whispered. That was the placement that she had most wanted since her… cousin first escaped. With her metamorphmagus abilities and her- personal history with the perpetrator- she had hoped that they would send her in first in the event of a public confrontation, a prospect that terrified her and excited her. She didn't know what she was looking for- revenge? However, since she hadn't done any more than compiling reports and staking out areas where nothing happened those thoughts seemed meaningless.

"That's great," her friend congratulated her.

Tonks stayed by the lake long enough to see the other three champions come out, the only interesting bits of the whole afternoon. Students started panicking when it was the hour mark and no other champions had returned, but Tonks was sure that nothing bad would actually happen to them just for taking longer than an hour. Finally, just past the hour mark, Victor Krum immerged, with Hermione, the smart girl in Neville's year who had apparently caught the attention of the international quidditch star. Lucky girl, she supposed. Cedric came next with a pretty Asian girl that she didn't know but she thought might have been in Ravenclaw, (good for him too). The last and youngest contestant, Harry Potter, took significantly longer to come up, to the point that Neville was worried, saying that Harry hadn't taken enough gillyweed to keep him changed for much longer if at all, when three figures burst through the water, quickly followed by a crowd of merpeople. Well, that part was noteworthy; witches and wizards just didn't get to see merfolk often. Tonks smiled and shook her head when it was announced to the crowd that Harry Potter arrived to the captives first, but refused to leave without retrieving all of them. The little girl he came up with was the veela girl's sister apparently. Such a _Gryffindor_.

Tonks caught sight of a familiar figure with uneven steps walking away from the crowd, rather than towards the champions. She wanted to follow, but it took several minutes to disengage from Neville, and then she ran into Cedric and had to stop to congratulate him as well, before ducking into the castle, glad that no one asked her about entering the castle when she wasn't a student. She could have just changed into one, she supposed, thought her robes wouldn't look right, but it wasn't needed. Tonks wandered the halls, so familiar and nostalgic, still able to navigate every hallway when she wasn't thinking about it. It was a good enough day, even with the boring task. She had spent time with Neville and congratulated Cedric, but was a bit sad that her old mentor disappeared almost as soon as she saw him. She didn't think he'd even seen her, didn't notice her even with the bright purple hair that she was currently sporting. Tonks was glad Mad-Eye looked to be doing alright at least. The old hermit hadn't bothered to answer the letter she'd sent weeks ago, but he was never a good correspondent, too afraid of post being intercepted that she hadn't really expected much, and she'd hear about him from Neville occasionally. She tried the Defense professor's office. She never really thought of it as any one person's office, because it was occupied by a different poor sap each year she was there. Tonks still wasn't sure how Dumbledore kept getting new people for the job, especially after the last few. She would have stayed longer to look for him, but she needed to get back to work. She'd switched with another new auror and taken his later shift so she could see the tournament, but she'd pay for it by working so late and still have to wake up for her next shift at some ungodly hour.

*****Tonks*****

There had been two legitimate-seeming Sirius Black sightings in the last months, but he was nowhere to be found by the time aurors had massed on the suspected locations. There was reasonable belief that he was now back in the country. Tonks couldn't imagine why the escapee would come back in the country with everyone trying to catch him, unless he was drawn to the action like everyone else. It was all happening at Hogwarts after all. Something unplanned by the organizers was also definitely happening at Hogwarts, and Tonks would uncover it.

Tonks shivered looking at the completely unrecognizable qudditch pitch and silently congratulated the organizers of at least not repeating their mistake of making the task completely unwatchable. Of course, it would be difficult enough to watch this one if you didn't have binoculars or a good sight charm, and some areas were obscured even then by the tall hedges. Spectators could watch from several dozen meters above in the quidditch stands, magically expanded to support larger crowds for the tasks. She looked around hundreds attending the event, mostly students, families, and anyone else who managed to worm their way into attendance. There was only one person she was looking for this time, and that person was usually easy enough to spot. She wouldn't be worried at all, except for the letter from Neville that she clutched in her hand.

 **N. Tonks,**

 **I think something is wrong with your friend at the castle. I thought something was weird, and I asked him about you, mentioning your first name, and he didn't react. He said some vague statements about you being a good student and walked off. I don't want to alarm you, but I think he isn't who everyone thinks he is.**

 **Neville**

Not the most subtle, but Tonks knew her young friend well enough to trust his instincts, and that certainly did sound odd, even for Mad-Eye, especially for Mad-Eye, really. It didn't seem like coincidence anymore. She cursed herself for not thinking of anything earlier. She should have made sure that she tracked him down when she was here for the second task- though what reason did she have to be suspicious? She had felt some inkling though hadn't she? That made her attempt to seek him out? She should have… But, if this… _imposter_ wasn't who he said he was, how on earth had no one else noticed? Did they not know the man at all? Dumbledore was supposed to be one of his friends, and he would say something if his friend wasn't the same person. How long had this been going on? A few days? Since Christmas? The whole year? Where was the real Mad-Eye if this wasn't him?

Then she saw him, lurking around the perimeter of the maze. Tonks knew that something was wrong just from seeing the way he walked. Moody didn't limp that much even after a long day's intense session. She couldn't actually believe that she didn't notice it months ago, though she'd only seen him through a crowd then. Tonks slipped her wand casually into her hand as she approached.

"Mad-Eye!" she called in greeting. The old man hated when his subordinates called him the nickname, though he didn't really mind it of others. The man studied her for a moment before a stiff nod. He didn't really recognize her. He turned his back to her, facing the shrubbery, and Tonks was relatively certain he was using his magical eye to look into the maze. The real Mad-Eye would have faced her and used his magical eye to keep watch wherever he wanted. The imposter fell to her silent stunner without even a fight. She prayed that she was right, though she was certain that she was. Old Mad Eye never would have fallen to one of his own trainees, would he? Though, if he were so sharp, how could he be replaced by an imposter? She bound the man, and levitated him off the field, with very little if any notice from the crowds. Red sparks had gone up moments before, and Tonks couldn't help thinking that the man she levitated had something to do with it.

"Kingsley!" she panted, running up to her boss and the man in charge of this patrol.

"Tonks?!" The man replied, startled into calling her by only her surname and not her rank as well by the sight before him. "Can you explain why you have apprehended a veteran of our forces?"

"I- I knew it wasn't him. Um. Let me see. Accio polyjuice potion," she said, hoping that she was right and not about to lose her job. Alastor Moody's drinking flask leapt to her hand. She wouldn't have put it past the old man to keep disguise materials on him, but not in his normal flask that she knew held nothing more than water, even if others suspected it was liquor.

The polyjuice potion she found on the form of her their old mentor was enough that Kingsley trusted her evidently. "Do you know how long the imposter was in place?" he asked.

"Not a clue, really, but if I had to guess, before the first school term." She thought that Neville would have noticed if his teacher had a personality change. It was beyond her how no one else in the castle seemed to know the man. There was nothing really for Tonks to do but keep him knocked out and wait for the potion to wear off, hoping the real Mad-Eye was safe somewhere. The cause of the red sparks proved to be near the unconscious body of Victor Krum. Kinglsey identified the Imperius Curse and was able to counter its grip on the boy. Tonks suspected that that too was from the imposter. The task seemed to be winding down by the sounds of the crowds, when everything went to hell. Two contestants had vanished. _Fuck!_ After identifying an interloper, she should have made the task stop, not that she could have… but she could have at least tried, but now the Boy Who Lived and Cedric were missing.

*****Tonks*****

Tonks sat, waiting in her own flat for the guest she was expecting. _He_ was back. He had to be. The most feared wizard in at least fifty years was back and would start killing people again. She believed Albus Dumbledore, especially if Neville trusted Harry Potter. The kid seemed alright from what Tonks had seen. And Cedric was dead. The Ministry wasn't saying anything about it, completely ignoring the entire end of the task. Tonks supposed they didn't want to acknowledge that You-Know-Who had returned, but to do that, they weren't paying attention to the murder of Cedric Diggory either. There was a small, third page article the next day about the conclusion of the Triwizard Tournament, even though the tournament had been first page news for months. All it really said was that Harry Potter had won and the other Hogwarts Champion, _**not even a name was given**_ , had tragically never made it out of the maze. Then it referenced previous deaths in past tournaments, which had led to the previous cancellation of the tournament, and speculated that it would again be the last until people forgot their mistakes. _Saying Cedric's death was just a mistake!_ The paper said that the entire wizarding world would have the mourning family in their thoughts. Then why didn't the paper even say the name Diggory?! Tonks found herself swearing that there had better not be a single Hufflepuff working for that trash of a government-controlled newspaper. She didn't know Cedric very well, but she would fight against the maniac who had him killed.

She hoped Kingsley had something important to tell her, anything that meant something in the grand scheme of the impending war, because surely it would come to war again. It was strange that he had asked to meet her away from the Ministry, in her own flat, so she was certain that it was not just about work. Tonks rose to her feet when her superior came through her floo.

Kingsley met her eyes, "Do you believe what Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter say, that- Voldemort has returned?"

"Yes," Tonks admitted. She told herself to think of something else so she wouldn't cry again. Cedric had been far too young, and with You-Know-Who back, more young deaths were just as likely.

Kingsley was blunt and never danced around the topic he wanted to reach. "I wanted to ask you if you would join an organization I recently became a part of. It is designed to gather information and resist Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"Yes," Tonks replied without a moment's hesitation.

"I thought you would say so. There is more that could be important to you in particular. I swear that I did not know before yesterday Tonks, but now I know that it is the truth."

"What?" Tonks asked, not liking his uncharacteristic dancing around.

"Sirius Black was never guilty. Peter Petigrew is alive, and he was the one who murdered those twelve muggles. Both are animagi, which is how Petigrew escaped detection for more than the last thirteen years, and how Black escaped Azkaban," Kingsley summarized the most relevant details in auror fashion. Tonks could hardly breathe. _Innocent._ Innocent and he had been in prison for twelve years. When Kingsley said it, it made complete sense. She had also so badly wanted to believe in Sirius's innocence from the moment she knew of his supposed crimes when she was just a child.

"I met him yesterday," Kingsley continued. "I told him about you, and I understand that he is very eager to see you again. To warn you, he seemed- just a bit touched in the head, but not to the level that a prisoner would usually be after nearly twelve years in Azkaban. He found it amusing that you were on the force working to bring him to justice." Tonks was instantly determined that she really would bring him to justice, prove his innocence so that he could really be free.

"How do I join and when can I see Sirius?"

"I can take you to Albus now."

*****Tonks*****

Tonks pocketed the scrap of paper with her old Headmaster's writing and looked up. She watched as the old house appeared, completely out of place, a single, creepy building amidst the cosy, modern muggle surroundings. She half expected a few dozen muggles to flood out of their houses complaining about the earth shifting under them as the house appeared in her vision, but the street stayed silent.

Kingsley led her through the dark hall. She could hear hushed voices ahead, several that she recognized as Weasleys and wondered what could cause the energetic family to whisper. Not paying enough attention to her path, she found herself reaching out her hands just in time for them to hit the floor before her nose. She craned her neck around to see a strangely shaped umbrella stand against the wall, not really blocking the path of a normal person- only her apparently.

Before she had gotten to her feet, the shouting started, "BLOOD TRAITORS, MUDBLOODS, FILTHY HALF-BREEDS. DISHONOR ON MY FAMILY AND THE GREAT NAME OF BLACK- rung out broke out before oddly, two men wrestled shut curtains over a portrait. A portrait was making that racket? And one from the House of Black?

The two men who had handled the noise looked over at her, probably for someone to blame, "Nymphy," the old man croaked.

"No one calls me that anymore unless you want to suffer dire consequences, Sirius," she said, recognizing his voice at once, even if it was different now, walking towards her older cousin, picking up the pace until she was wrapped in his arms, sobbing softly. "I'm so sorry I doubted you. So sorry."

"You were just a little one, Dora. Don't think about it again. The way I understand it, you're all grown up now, aren't you? An auror and everything? Assigned to my case even."

Tonks laughed a bit into his shoulder, "You're lucky Kingsley warned me about you first, or you'd be incapacitated at wand point."

"That good are, ya? The young witch who was just defeated by the umbrella stand?"

Tonks shoved her cousin lightly but didn't pull away. "You should get rid of that thing. It's ugly as hell anyway."

"Ooh and you have a mouth on you too. No, I think I rather like the old stand. It has emotional attachment and is damned useful."

"Useful? There's only one umbrella there- what do you even need it for?"

"My dear, I have now found that it is quite useful for my own amusement. Would you really deprive an old man a bit of happiness?"

"Shameless beggar," Tonks muttered, pushing her favorite cousin away at last, hoping that no one would be able to see vestiges of tears on her face. She noticed that no other members of the Order had lingered in the entry hall, to give them a private reunion.

*****Tonks*****

Somehow being part of both the magical law enforcement and a secret society to overthrow the evil-est wizard of their age- still wasn't very exciting. Neville's year was actually sounding more exciting, which was depressing since he was only a fifteen year old school boy. Neville was now part of a subversive group to learn a subject that so glaringly wasn't being taught as the school, defense against all of the dark forces around them. It wasn't like defense had actually been taught at Hogwarts in decades, but this witch was especially blatant about not teaching them anything practical, the burying her head in the sand technique. Yes, Tonks had had the displeasure of meeting Delores Umbridge before, and the toad should never be allowed around children, or any other living humans. Tonks was glad that Neville and his friends were ignoring the witch and learning to protect themselves. She relished living vicariously through each of Neville's letters.

The only exciting thing she had done for the Order was being part of the guard that retrieved Harry Potter during the summer. That had been a creepily sterile house, which she had no idea how it could be so clean without magic. She hadn't even been part of the guard rotation to watch the boy before the move, not that that would have been very exciting, since they weren't even supposed to talk to him. Tonks didn't see the reason for this, but she had only been assigned the even more boring task of sitting by a door in the Department of Mysteries that no one ever went through.

"What about recruitment?" she asked, breaking up some disagreement that she hadn't been paying attention to. It was harder to focus in an Order meeting than it had been in any class except History of Magic. Dumbledore allowed far too much discussion in these meetings for her taste. She wondered if there were just too many Gryffindors in the room to control. It seemed like the only thing they did was guard some mysterious prophesy in the Department of Mysteries, and the only one doing anything actually important was Severus Snape, not that she would admit it to the unpleasant man. Her former teacher had at least stopped objecting to her presence on the grounds of her still being a child after the first two of his attempts failed to have her removed from the Order.

"Nymphadora, we have been working on recruitment. You yourself were far too young to be involved in the last war, after all," Dumbledore smiled in his grandfatherly way. "And Remus and Hagrid have been on diplomatic missions with some success," he went on, which Tonks thought was far too generous a statement of the progress of the Order.

It was a mark of her determination that she didn't protest at the use of her first name, "But no one has joined since I have. We can't exactly broadcast it at the Ministry, because everyone would think we're crazy," she refraimed from saying ' _like everyone thinks you're looney now._ ' She went on, "But surely there's something else we can try, some people or a tactic we haven't thought of?"

"We are always open to suggestions, Nym-"

"Tonks," she cut in this time.

"Yes, Miss Tonks. Do you have a suggestion?" he asked, making her feel like she was back in school, even though she certainly never had a class with Albus Dumbledore. Some others were looking at her with interest as well, raising the pressure.

"Augusta Longbottom," Tonks found herself saying, it making more sense the more she thought about it. "Her son and daughter-in-law were part of the last war effort, and she has as much reason to fight as anyone. And the older generation, even a lot of the purebloods, respect her and listen to what she says. And she believes that You-Know-Who is back."

"Have you talked to her already, Miss Tonks, that you can be sure of her leanings?"

"No, but Neville told me that his grandmother believed you and Harry. There are more people than you think who believe. Family members of students at Hogwarts are a great place to start."

"I did not realize that you kept in contact with young Mr. Longottom, Miss Tonks. It is a good idea, to be sure. I will approach Augusta and consider your suggestion of other families."

"Amos Diggory," Tonks said again, not sure how she didn't think of that family sooner as well, the first wizarding family hurt by Vol- by You-Know-Who's return. "He knows that someone killed Cedric and I think he believes you and Harry too. He's a little hard to deal with sometimes from what I know of him, but he's a good man, and that family shouldn't have lost Cedric. And I can reach out to some Hufflepuff graduates, from Cedric's year and older. Even if they don't really join the Order, it'd be good to have more allies. Some of them have started at the Ministry too, in several different departments. It would be good to have some people with connections in communication and transportation," she went on, growing enthusiasm for the Order for the first time since her first meeting when she met Sirius.

"Very good suggestions, Miss Tonks. Can I trust your digression in reaching out to young people, and I will approach Augusta and Amos personally," he said in the tone of a statement rather than a question.

"Yes sir," she smiled, returning to her seat that she had left at some point in her excitement, satisfied with her progress.

*****Tonks*****

Tonks soon learned first-hand how Neville meant that his grandmother was a considerable force. Both Augusta Longbottom and Amos Diggory were present at a meeting over the Christmas holidays. There hadn't been any full Order meetings since the first school term began, as several key Order members were part of Hogwarts staff. The headmaster and at least two heads of houses couldn't leave the castle at the same time on a regular basis. Neville had bemoaned that he had not been able to attend, though he had quickly deduced that his year mates would be at the headquarters together, even if they weren't allowed in the meetings. Arthur Weasley had been attacked while on guard duty at the Ministry just days before, and though he was recovering, it was more than enough to startle Tonks and many of the Order members.

The "children were actually the current discussion, after the revelation of their secret defense group the question arose again if they should be allowed in Order meetings, the positions championed by Neville's grandmother and Professor McGonagall. Tonks watched the two fearsome women argue, knowing what she wanted to be like when she grew up.

"They are not children. They are fifteen and sixteen years old. I have only refrained from bringing Neville at your personal request, but really, I don't see the point. When I was that age, I was finishing school, managing my family's household, and engaged to be married. You were even more impressive a few years later, if I recall, Minerva, but you shouldn't forget who helped you transfigure your first mouse when you were dreadfully bored with needles and matches. Do you honestly think these young people so much less capable? Even my Neville has grown tremendously in the last years, the past months especially."

"Thank you, Augusta, and from what I have heard from Mr. Longbottom's other teachers, he has been performing most admirably. Shall we bring it to a vote?" the professor suggested, met by the approval of the rest of the crowd. The motion failed, but with more support than Tonks would have expected before, with the addition of Mrs. Longbottom and Mr. Diggory, and it appeared that Neville's grandmother's speech convinced a few more. The younger ones would be of age soon enough, if everyone could just stay alive until then.

*****Tonks*****

Fuzziness. There wasn't really any pain, but it was definitely a hospital or healer's office feel. Had she done something stupid in training again? No, she was out of training, wasn't she? Was she injured on a mission? Belatrix! _The Ministry_. Tonks shifted, trying to pry her eyes open. _Yep, St. Mungo's it was_. Must have been a bad hit- felt like a head wound. She probably looked a mess. _Was anyone around to see it?_ Tonks managed to look around after a moment.

"Neville?" she croaked, not seeing a face that she would have expected. Sometimes one of her fellow aurors stuck around if it was on a mission that she managed to hurt herself. Otherwise, it was usually a healer or no one at all. She had a standing request in with auror healing staff and with St. Mungo's to not alert her family unless the situation was extremely serious.

"Are you okay?" Neville asked, voice full of concern. _Yep, must look a mess_ , Tonks though.

"I think I'm okay. Tripped over my own feet, if I remember correctly. Damn clumsiness. I shouldn't have even been made an auror. Danger to others and myself," Tonks went on grumpily.

"Don't say that," Neville actually scolded her, "I'm just glad you're alright. You shouldn't have been there in the first place. None of us should have."

"About that, mister, what were you doing sneaking into the Ministry of Magic, hmm?" Tonks asked.

Neville smiled a bit sheepishly before seeming to snap back to seriousness, "Harry knew something was happening there. The others were all going, and I thought it was the right thing to do. To give them any help I could. I would blame Gryffindor bravery, but I was absolutely terrified. I think it was some honorary Hufflepuff loyalty that made me go more than anything else," Neville tried to joke, though he sounded pained.

"Well you shouldn't have gone, but I'm glad you made it out. Are the other kids okay?" Tonks asked, feeling a bit more like herself each moment.

Neville paused for a moment that made Tonks's heart beat a few extra beats. She knew all of them except for the blond girl, and they were all nice kids. "Yeah, they are all fine. Hermione and Ron haven't been let out of the hospital wing yet, but they'll be okay too."

Neither seemed like they needed to speak for a moment. Tonks was afraid to ask more. "I met your parents," Neville said a bit sheepishly, almost like he was deliberately changing the subject. "They were nice. They didn't even ask me to leave."

"My parents? They aren't supposed to be even told about me being here unless it's pretty bad," Tonks protested. Neville winced slightly. "I land myself in medical wards often enough to scare them if they found out about every time. Was I that bad off?" Tonks asked.

Neville clearly hesitated again at this point, "Well, this has been all over the papers and everything, so it couldn't exactly be hidden. The whole world knows now- that V- that You-Know-Who is back," Neville said. He seemed to try to say his name, which was unusual in itself. "A lot of the Death Eaters were caught too- almost all of them," Neville said before flinching.

"Who got away?" Tonks asked, bracing herself.

"You-Know-Who and Belatrix Lestrange," he spat out the name, giving the second name more hatred than even the first.

"Dammit," Tonks swore. "I should have had her. What kind of auror am I?" she asked.

"You're great, Tonks. Like I said, we shouldn't have gone there in the first place. It's all our fault, really," Neville said apologetically.

They were interrupted briefly by a smiling healer's arrival. "It's good to see you awake, Miss Tonks. You'll be ready to leave in just over an hour, if you are feeling well enough to leave. We'll let the last of the potions go through your system before you leave us, but you should be fine to move around a bit now, so long as you don't leave the floor. Neville here hardly left you alone at all. You're growing up into such a fine young man," the middle-aged healer told Neville. He blushed a bit and smiled, the way one would to an aunt. "If anyone asks, tell them that Clara said you could stay."

"Relative of yours?" Tonks asked after the woman left.

"You're in the ah- spell damage ward at the moment, fourth floor. Clara is in charge of the whole floor, which includes the long term ward. I have spent a lot of time in St. Mungo's, I guess, and several healers work the whole floor," Neville explained.

"I'm sorry, Neville," Tonks said. "You really have grown into a nice young man though," Tonks teased, though she spoke honestly. Neville didn't have the same round face and chubby cheeks. He was growing up to be pretty cute, really. Moreover, he held a presence now about him that not many wizards had, a confidence that she saw in this visit that he hadn't had as a child. The energy seemed to waver, and Neville almost seemed to wilt a bit before taking a deep breath. Tonks considered that she probably shouldn't be paying enough attention to the body of a fifteen year old that she noticed the way he breathed. She would be lying if she didn't admit that he was cute though, handsome even.

"Tonks," Neville started seriously. He rose from his chair and sat on the small hospital bed next to you. "I-I'm probably not the best one to tell you this, but I want to be here for you, Tonks," he said, putting his hand on her sheet-covered knee. "I talked to your mum, and she had to leave. I don't think she's doing very well with it herself."

" _Fuck_ ," she hissed quietly. She knew what was coming, even if her brain hadn't quite worked out that last statement. One didn't go through auror training without some mental preparation for this. She had even been around when they had lost an auror, though it wasn't anyone she knew. This would be harder. "Who's dead?" she whispered, bracing herself.

Neville tentatively snaked his arms around her. Her brain absently commented that the healers really must like Neville around here, because no healers were bothering them as all. She suddenly wanted to be interrupted, to have the pain delayed. "Sirius Black," Neville spoke quietly.

Tonks nodded, feeling the numbness and pain battle in her body. She sagged against Neville. Some mighty auror she was, crying into the shoulder of a fifth year. _Or was it summer holiday yet_? As if it mattered. Neville held her, rocking her gently as she cried.

Finally, "You know he was my favorite cousin, right?" Tonks asked, slightly muffled in the fabric of Neville's robe.

"Yeah. Gran never told me anything about the meetings, but the whole world knows that he was innocent now, just so you know. I'm sorry that I didn't get to meet him," Neville said as he stroked her hair. _Brown hair again, ugh._

"I thought the world revolved around him when I was a little kid. He was halfway between a really big brother and a fun uncle. But then everyone said he was bad," Tonks whimpered, feeling like a little child in his arms. She felt no more than seven or eight, just like back then. It hurt just the same, maybe worse. "I didn't believe at first. I thought that people had to be wrong. I wanted to go visit, but, of course my parents wouldn't let me," she sniffled. "But, soon I just believed it too. I was so angry for so many years. I helped hunt him, or wanted to anyway, before Kingsley took me back into the Order. Once I found out that he was innocent, and I felt so guilty for ever believing it. But even though he was unhappy in that terrible house, times were still good, and I'm so glad I had that time," Tonks whispered. She gripped Neville tighter, not wanting to let him go until an even worse thought hit her.

"She did it, didn't she?" Tonks spoke again in an almost eerie calm. "She was going after me because I was related. She taunted me for being a half-blood and a freak. And then she went after Sirius, didn't she? Belatrix. She's trying to finish off anyone remotely respectable in the damn old family," Tonks spat, trying to let anger cloud over her sobs.

"Yes, she did," Neville admitted calmly.

Tonks couldn't hold back the new loud sobs. "It's all my fault," she whispered several times to herself, despite the gentle protests and soothing words that she could hear from Neville.

"It's not your fault, Tonks. Blame Azkaban for letting all of the Death Eaters escape in the first place. Or mabye- maybe something more permanent should have been done to them years ago. They shouldn't have been able to escape, and shouldn't have been able to hurt anyone even if they did. And Sirius never got a real trial- I looked it up. None of this should have happened, and it isn't your fault, Ny- Tonks," he said quickly.

Tonks looked up at him, curious despite her current mood, "You almost called me by my first name, didn't you? And you sometimes address your letters to N. Tonks. How do you even know it? Did one of the teachers squeal?" she attempted to joke, desperate to think of anything else.

"I mean, I knew the rest of your family, didn't I? I asked Gran years ago. Sorry. I think it's lovely though. I- ah use it in my head sometimes, but I don't mean to," he said, running his fingers through her drab brown hair. "I'm around if you ever need someone, you know? For anything," he said. Tonks enjoyed the comforting squeeze of his arms.

"Thanks," she mumbled. "It just doesn't seem real, you know?" she asked. "I don't believe he's gone again."

"Yeah, I know. I lost my grandfather a few years back. It was really weird seeing the threstrals when I was pretty sure they hadn't been there before. He died just a few days before I left for Hogwarts the first time, but I didn't see the thestrals until the end of the year, even though I did see the carriages a bit at the beginning of the year, before we took the boats. And everyone always talks about the horseless carriages. Gran said I didn't see them at first because I just needed some time to process everything."

"Poor little Neville," Tonks commiserated. "You had a rough first year too. But you did it better than anyone else could, Neville. You're really special," she told her friend, not able to look at his face but content to stay nestled in the crook of his neck.

"You helped me a lot, Tonks. You gave me confidence that things would get better, and you talked to me when no one else would. It was a pretty terrible year all around until the very end, but you were great," he told her.

"Thanks," Tonks almost smiled, feeling a bit lighter. "So, this is near your parents' room?" Tonks asked, immediately hating her subject change of choice.

"Yeah," he said steadily. "Just down the hall a bit. You could even meet them, if you wanted to," Neville offered, more timidly than Tonks had heard him speak since he was a first year.

"I'd love that, Neville," Tonks the older witch replied, glad that she could squeeze him tight in comfort. "Can I go now? Do you think the healers would mind?" she asked. "I just feel like I need to do something."

"Yeah. Clara just said that you couldn't leave the floor, but it was her way of saying that- that I could show you the permanent wing if I wanted to. I've known her a long time now," Neville explained. He helped her out of the hospital bed.

She felt a bit self-conscious standing in bare feet and her thin hospital robe. The healers always liked taking the patients' clothes away, for some reason, in addition to their wands. Tonks often thought that it was so she couldn't escape. Neville seemed to understand and wrapped a cloak that must have been his around her shoulders. She was surprised that it was actually noticeably large on her in her base form, though she knew that she shouldn't be surprised that an almost sixteen-year-old boy had grown. Hadn't she noticed that before? "Can you walk?" Neville asked.

"I think so," Tonks replied, though she took Neville's arm when he offered it. She only leaned slightly, and that could be true of any day in her wretched, clumsy life. They probably wouldn't let her leave today if she hit her head again, so falling was especially to be avoided at the moment.

Neville helped Tonks walk into a room that looked bright and pleasant, though it had a somewhat draining feel to it. Tonks felt immediately worse for Neville spending as much time here as a child as he probably had. A blond man with a quill tried to talk to her until Neville ushered her in another direction. _Gilderoy Lockheart,_ she thought as she remembered a letter coming after Neville's second year and the face that she had seen on countless magazines over the years.

"Going to the Ministry was the first thing I've ever done, I think, that made Gran really proud. Well, besides not being a squib I guess. I'm going to get a new wand and everything when we go to Diagon Alley. I- broke my father's old one there," Neville explained, smiling at his father, a thin, lost looking balding man. Neville's mother and father were in separate, small beds, and Tonks couldn't help but wonder if they would do better closer together for comfort, even if they didn't understand.

"Families really shouldn't pass on old wands if they can manage to get new ones," Tonks said, hoping her voice sounded a little apologetic. "If Olivander helps you find one, then your new one will work better for you than the old one ever did. You'll probably think magic is easier then, not that you haven't done just fine already," Tonks said, reaching up to rub Neville's hair. "You really make me feel short," Tonks griped good-naturedly.

 _How could she do anything now?_ After her failure _. How could she even try to be happy_ , though Sirius would have wanted her to be? _She could do it_ , she tried to tell herself, _starting with her stupid hair_. Tonks took a few calming breaths before closing her eyes and opening them when she was several inches taller. Her hair was a bright yellow color instead of the mousy brown, though she let it still hang long.

Tonks heard a gasp that made her head turn. Alice Longbottom was watching her with strange fixation, specifically on her hair. Tonks looked at Neville to see his equally surprised face, though his was focused on his mother. "She likes your hair," he mumbled in amazement. "She hasn't seemed that alert in... well in as long as I can remember, to be honest. She barely seems to recognize me, you know." Alice Longbottom continued to stare as Tonks paused and changed her hair color again every minute or so until Neville spoke again.

"We're going to go now, Mum. And Dad. But I'll send a healer in in a minute, okay?" Neville asked, though neither responded. Frank Longbottom had barely moved during the entire visit. He must have had it even worse than his wife on that day when Neville was just a baby. Neville led Tonks back to the bed she woke up in, speaking to a healer along the way. He projected the same strength and stability until he collapsed into her arms as they sat down heavily. "Thank you," he murmured into her ear, arms wrapped tightly around her. He shook slightly with gentle sobs, though Tonks thought no less of him. This young man had been through far too much. He'd been strong for too long.

 **A/N: Neville is growing up so fast! I loved writing the Hospital scene so much. Fun fact, Tonks really was on the fourth floor in spell damage, which really is on the same floor as the permanent ward with Neville's parents, which was one of the first scenes that I imagined.**


	4. Chapter 4- Blossoming

Chapter 4- Blossoming

 **NT,**

 **I would have worked harder in potions if I knew an "E" would have been good enough to get me in the NEWT class, and I might have some small chance at making it. It would have been helpful to know more about the application of magical plant usage in potions. I always hoped that my knowledge in Herbology would help with potions, but working around Snape was impossible. And now that he's taken over Defense, I would say that my grade would suffer, but it's not like we learned anything from Umbridge, so this is actually better. I've been saying that we need to start the DA up again (it's the only possible reason that I somehow managed an "E" in Defense), but there doesn't seem to be interest. I don't know why there wouldn't be interest though, with everyone knowing that He was back. Snape does know a lot about Defense at least, and he wants us to actually practice. If I had known wordless spells last year, I might not have been useless when my nose was broken and I couldn't pronounce the spells. How are you doing? You know I'm here to listen whenever you need.**

 **Neville**

Tonks put aside the letter, not willing to face his last questions at the moment. At least there didn't seem to be anything to sinister going on at the school that year, and the wizarding world was finally opening their eyes. Perhaps Scrimgeour would shape the Ministry the way it should be. He had done a decent enough job with the auror's office, she supposed. Neville didn't mention the small internal auror notice that Sirius Black had been killed but was found innocent of all charges, but Tonks thought that somehow Neville knew that piece of information as well, and wondered if it made him write her that day. There should have at least been a front page apology for making his life hell- well, more hellish than it was already going to be when most of his best friends died or turned traitor when he was barely an adult.

The year went on with nothing more exciting for Neville than hearing that one of the Gryffindor seventh years was injured by a cursed necklace, which while being terrible, seemed tame for Hogwarts in the last few years. Somehow, working at the Ministry was even less eventful. Tonks was wondering how far You-Know-Who had already infiltrated the Ministry just because of the apparent incompetence everywhere. Surely no one could legitimately suspect Stan Shunpike of being a threat to society? Tonks wondered how far the infiltration was at Hogwarts was as well. Harry Potter suspected that her little cousin, Draco Malfoy was into something serious, and though Harry never seemed as mature as Neville was at the same age, the kid had undeniably good instincts, with the exception of the previous June…

*****Tonks*****

How could such a quiet year end so terribly? Tonks didn't even know that anything was wrong until Dumbledore was already dead. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts for more than a generation. Albus Dumbledore, the infuriating old man who would use her first name more than occasionally. Albus Dumbledore, the only on You-Know-Who ever feared.

Tonks had battled on with the rest of the Order, once she had finally received word to come. Others didn't know that Dumbledore had died and had to be told. It was all around wretched. And that damned bastard, Snape. She was right to have always hated him. And she was pretty sure it was all her cousin, Draco Malfoy's fault, rubbing salt in the damned wound. Couldn't she have been born in a nice family like the Weasleys? You were supposed to be able to _trust_ family. That was when it all started going to hell. The Order put on a good face, pretending that nothing was too wrong. It seemed like between McGonagall and Old Mad-Eye, they'd piece things together.

Then there was the plan to move Harry from his aunt and uncle's house for the final time. It was an even more hair-brained scheme then the first rescue of Harry Potter that Tonks had been a part of. What of the year in between? Hadn't Dumbledore just arrived and apparated Harry away that summer? Was that really too dangerous to chance? Why hadn't that plan been suggested? But itseemed exciting enough, and Tonks wasn't in the habit of questioning her old mentor, old Mad-Eye. A convoluted plot at least made everyone feel involved and gave them something else to think of than the death of their leader and the loss of their headquarters- not that Tonks minded leaving old house, as she hated the damned place. She should have spoken up, said the plan was insane. Mad-Eye was too old to be making those tactical decisions. She had known he was failing years before when she heard that he had been captured by Wormtail, and she just didn't want to admit not trusting the judgment of the old man.

She didn't know how she could go on without the old grouch. The Ministry was going downhill as well, beyond just incompetence. She didn't feel like talking to anyone, even to Neville. Sometimes she didn't even open the letters, but she appreciated that he still sent them, at least for a while. Some attempt was made to throw a decent wedding together for Bill and Fluer- they certainly deserved it, and she was glad they weren't putting their lives on hold- those who did never really lived. Word from Kingsley that the Ministry had fallen was hardly meaningful- had they ever been worth anything? Tonks did not go to work after that day. She only felt useful when she collected information from former Hufflepuffs brave enough to continue on at their Ministry jobs and slip her information, though each week there were fewer able to go back. Hufflepuff house didn't often have those of "purest blood," and anyone with less high standing felt less able to go to work each day.

*****Neville*****

So much had happened since they had seen each other last. They had barely even been able to write. Neville thought, _how could it have been that long?_ Tonks had stopped responding anyway before it was too hard to send anything at all. He knocked on the door that he'd spent the last few days trying to find. Neville had to stop himself from reacting poorly to the woman that looked so much like the person he hated more than anyone else. "I'm Neville Longbottom," he introduced himself. "Is Tonks here?" he asked. "I don't know if you remember me, Mrs. Tonks. We met at St. Mungos a few years ago. I'm a friend of hers, and of the Order."

The woman smiled just a bit. Neville had to remind himself that she wasn't the one who had destroyed his family. She just looked eerily like her horrid sister. "I think you'd be good for her now," the woman said, ushering him past the entryway and pointing to a room up the stairs, where he could see a slightly open door and a light visible.

"Thank you," Neville replied. "I am very sorry, and hope you are doing well enough," he tried to sound pleasant. He knew that there was nothing meaningful to say sometimes.

*****Neville/Tonks*****

Tonks looked up at the sound of the door creaking. Her eyes widened. "Neville!" The wizard smiled.

"Wait, wait," she said, fumbling for her wand. "How did we first meet?" she asked, knowing that there were tears in her plain brown eyes.

Neville didn't move from where he stood. "I was lost in Hogwarts after curfew, and didn't know the password anyway. And you were sitting in the hall, upset because some blind Ravenclaw idiot made an arse of himself and of the male gender as a whole," Neville said, smiling a bit in recollection.

Neville took a step forward now, "Wait," Tonks protested again. "You should ask me one too. You have to be careful, Neville."

"I know it's you," Neville said, stepping forward again, but indulged her anyway, "What honor did you bestow upon me that night?" Neville asked, eyes shining, though Tonks couldn't tell why.

"I called you an honorary Hufflepuff, if you count that as an honor," Tonks sniffled slightly.

"I was _very_ honored," Neville said. "I still am," he said, climbing onto her bed next to her and wrapping his arms around her. Tonks allowed herself to be pulled into his lap as if she were a small child. Tonks settled back to the mattress, between his legs and his arms, leaning into his chest.

"You look as awful as I must," Tonks said, craning back and lightly touching one of the still fresh looking cuts, turning to scars that lined Neville's cheeks.

"You look beautiful," Neville whispered in her ear, "Just like the day I met you," he said. He hugged her closely with one arm, and absentmindedly running his fingers through her mousy brown mess of her natural hair with his free hand. Tonks couldn't prevent a shiver and buried her face into his neck. She smiled, and she couldn't remember the last time she had.

"I think you must be the blind one. You know that's not true, Neville," she said into his shoulder.

"Yes it is," Neville said, rubbing her shoulders very pleasantly.

"You heard about my dad?" she asked, voice shaking.

"I'm so sorry, Tonks," He said, pulling her closer still. "I only met him the one time, but I know that he loved you very much." Tonks almost forgot sorrow when she noticed how strong Neville's arms seemed to be, and his shoulders. Most wizards enjoyed more food and seemed to think any physical activity was below them. _Damn, she was horrible and fickle to even think about anything besides her father or the war_.

"No one talks about it, but they took control of St. Mungo's too, didn't they?" Tonks asked, terrified of the answer.

"Yeah, Neville spoke, his nose and forehead nestled into her mess of hair. "We get updates from different portraits sometimes. They are still loyal at least. Clara actually got a message to me before she had to leave. She's okay but in hiding now, like everyone else. There wasn't anyone for her to look after there anymore. The- Death Eaters deemed the entire mental ward a 'drain on our great wizarding society.'"

"I'm so sorry Neville," Tonks cried. "Here I am worrying only about myself and my family, even though I know that everyone else is hurting too.

"It's okay, Tonks. And my parents have been gone for a long time now, I think. I would never have wanted it, but at least now they get some peace, you know? I don't think death is what we should be afraid of the most now. Suffering and evil are a lot worse. And I'm sure they're proud of me now," Neville spoke confidently.

"They are," Tonks spoke, so proud of Neville herself and barely even aware of what she was saying.

"Your father is too," Neville said gently.

"Thanks," Tonks could only reply. "Why did you stay at Hogwarts? Why do you keep fighting? You could get away if you wanted to. You're away from them now."

"Hogwarts is important, and there are younger children stuck there who don't have anywhere else to go. Children of muggleborns whose parents have been scared away, and everyone else. But the castle itself is important too. It's not just stones, you know? It's hurting right now, because its people are fighting. I know it sounds crazy. I don't even try to tell this to the others. You can see it most with the Room of Requirement, but the whole castle is fighting them, but it's difficult on it. I think Hogwarts remembers the Death Eaters as students too, and the castle is hurting because of it," Neville explained. "I know it's weird, but I can feel it. The staircases don't listen to them, the Death Eaters. Except they listen to Snape. I don't know why, exactly. Maybe because he's still the Headmaster, but maybe," he said, sounding hesitant. "Maybe the castle knows something we don't. I know it sounds crazy, like everything else I've said, but he hasn't been as bad to us students as the rest of them. Once when we were caught, in his office even, he only sent us into the forest with Hagrid for a detention. It was actually fun; it made me think of when I was a first year," Neville laughed a bit.

Tonks marveled, Neville Longbottom had been through so much that he wasn't afraid of the Forbidden Forest, the terror of Hogwarts students for generations of school children. Granted, there were much deadlier beings roaming free in the castle as they spoke. Tonks didn't want to think about anything too difficult. "I'm no healer, but I could fix up some of those marks, I think. Mum could probably do better," Tonks offered.

"It's okay," Neville said, moving Tonks's hand from a nasty looking cut to the right of his eye and placed it on his cheek instead. "They'd just give me new ones, and I really don't mind them. None of them hurt anymore, and I'm proud of them, you know? I don't even wonder anymore if my parents would be proud of me, Tonks. I _know_ they would be, that they are. And that makes up for a lot of things, for almost everything. We make sure the younger ones are looked after, the older lot does. We get what information that we can and try to see what we can do with it, act ourselves or pass it to loyal teachers. We teach each other and look for opportunities to do things that are real. We're not beaten, those of us at Hogwarts. And it's not just a castle..." he said. His hands on her back and in her hair felt so relaxing. He had an amazing voice that she could feel in his chest and neck. He could stir a world to war if he needed to with that voice.

Before Tonks even thought about it, she was kissing his neck. Neville froze under her touch, but still held her tightly. She was an idiot. She was going to lose him because she was a reckless idiot. He breathed deeply a few times before bringing his face to look at hers, staring into her eyes. He kissed her, first tentatively, but then with growing force. Tonks parted her lips slightly, and Neville took the invitation to invade her mouth with his delicious tongue. _Had he even kissed a girl before? Goodness, it was quite good for a first attempt if he hadn't._

"I love you," he whispered after their kiss finally ended. "I have since I was fifteen, I think. Maybe earlier, but I knew then. When I saw you in that hospital bed, no one and nothing in the world could make me go away." Tonks had never felt a larger lump in her throat. She might even be choking. He went on, "I cared more about you being okay than I did about revenge on the Lestranges, and I have wanted that more than anything else since I was a child incapable to even cast a simple spell."

"Thank you," she whispered, knowing that wasn't a very good answer.

Neville smiled, "Don't worry- it's fine. I love you and I'm worried about you, but I certainly didn't expect you to say it back. I just hope you don't push me away," he conveyed everything to Tonks in just a few words. They understood each other so well somehow that he really hadn't needed to say anything at all, but it was wonderful to hear him talk. "I'm so scared Tonks, but mostly for you, and for the others at Hogwarts. We have to make it through, to beat Him, or it will be really bad. I don't even know what the country, what the world would be like. He's really evil, and actually crazy, I think. He just wants people to hurt, and some of his followers are even more twisted. Hogwarts has become a nightmare. The Death Eaters practice the Cruciatus curse on children, and teach it to other students, which might actually be worse. The others are so scared of all the Slytherins now, and I know that isn't right, but I don't know how to change it, how to reach out to the Slytherins, the younger ones at least. I guess I probably just can't."

"I care about you too, Neville," Tonks finally managed. "I'm not- mature, even though I'm old enough that I should be. I'm a terrified little girl that misses her father and doesn't know what to do. I'm not a Gryffindor, Neville. I wanted to be one when I was younger. Did I ever tell you that? I thought it would be disloyal to Hufflepuff to talk about it, but I always wanted to be a Gryffindor. I thought I was so brave."

"Well, if I'm an honorary Hufflepuff, then I make you an honorary Gryffindor. I finally feel like I can give that now."

"Thanks, Neville," she answered, not at all sure what to say and trying not to cry more. "What are you doing next?"

"I have to go back to Hogwarts. The other students are counting on me. I'm kind of their leader, I guess. Of the students anyway. I get word to McGonagall sometimes," he said. "There are some good teachers still there, just trying to do the best they can for the students. I think some of them understand about the castle as well, but we don't talk about it."

"Where's your grandmother?" Tonks found herself asking, hoping that she would still want to know the answer.

"She's off somewhere, in hiding. I'm not too worried. She's a strong old lady. She'll outlive us all," Neville chuckled a bit before adding quietly. "I hope so anyway. You can't be sure of anything these days. She's proud of me too. She actually tells me that lately."

"Neville, I'm scared," Tonks whispered, feeling very foolish.

"I know. I am too."

*****Tonks*****

She arrived at the castle through the entrance from the Hog's Head that Neville had described at the same time as Augusta, glad to see the strong older woman, drawing confidence and a need to seek out Neville. This was it. It felt like the end of something, with everyone gathered at Hogwarts. Was she going to die that day? Was Neville? What about their other friends, comrades? And then Neville was there, looking slightly less worn than he had a few months before. Her arms were around him in seconds, and he hugged her back.

"Be safe. A hug for good luck," he said.

*****Neville*****

He was surprised when she pulled on his neck, bringing his mouth down to hers, kissing him soundly, her tongue parting his lips. He heard a surprised whoop that he thought was a Weasley, probably one of the twins. She tasted more amazing than he remembered, and she didn't seem to mind the attention they were attracting. He hoped he was kissing her well in return. Sometimes it was pretty great to be Neville Longbottom.

"A kiss, for better luck," Tonks said a bit shakily when she released him, eyes sparkling.

Neville noticed Professor Sprout standing near them when he came back to himself. The older little witch was smiling widely, "Neville dear, will you help me with the castle defense? I have quite a few ideas for places for our plants, and I trust you best with them."

"Of course, Professor. Stay safe," he said to Tonks one more time, though he knew that she would stay out of danger no more than he would, looking back at her as he walked away.

"You too," she had said.

With quick work, the defenses were as varied as Professor Sprout and he could imagine, poison emitting gas plants and devil's snare being the first choice, but other plants with thorns and teeth were good protective filler. Neville only regretted that it would be too difficult to give protective earmuffs to every person defending the castle so they could release mandrakes at opportune moments. It wasn't worth the risk of killing innocents to free adult fully grown mandrakes though, and knocking unsuspecting defenders unconscious with even juvenile mandrakes also would make them as good as dead when Death Eaters were involved. Still, he saw some young mandrakes that could be a last resort.

*****Tonks*****

When the fighting really started, Neville was by her side quickly. Spells flashed with scarcely enough time to react and little time to think. It was fortunate that the bad guys all wore uniforms. Tonks tried not to wonder if some might have been Imperiused slaves. There was nothing they could do for those people now. Then she focused on the one cloaked figure that she hated more than the rest. It was easy to spot the highest ranking female Death Eater, as she didn't even wear her mask. Tonks thought Neville was already fighting the bitch's husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, but she had focus only for Bellatrix. The last time they had dueled, she had fallen on her face, and her aunt had killed her cousin. Who would die this time? Spells passed between them as the two women fought- it was almost picturesque enough to have been choreographed, the family grudge, auror versus psychopath. After just a few exchanges though, she was almost dead, panting, legs twisted, crashing to the ground intentionally this time to avoid a killing curse. Panic diverted her attention as she fell, somehow following the path of the curse before she reached the ground, breathing again, not caring as her head hit the hard ground, as she watched the cloaked black figure next to Neville fell instead of him. Bellatrix's own curse had killed her husband, though Tonks didn't think she cared for him much, it would still be a blow. Neville met her eyes before turning to face Belatrix, just as Tonks whipped around as well, head spinning from the fall. She wasn't sure which spell did the bitch in- Tonks thought they both sent out blasting hexes, but it was over. The woman of her nightmares was just a person and had fallen like any other.

Neville yanked her to her feet, and they went on fighting other parts of the faceless enemy army against their cause. When the most chilling voice she had ever heard announced an hour long cease fire, Tonks and Neville stumbled back to the Great Hall with the other defenders of Hogwarts. They didn't even stop the Death Eaters from staggering in the opposite direction, their weariness was so real.

Tonks tried not to look at the dead, tried to remain unaffected, to carry on because the fighting would resume in an hour, whether Potter was dumb enough to walk to his death or not. Too many were dead, some that she knew and others that she didn't. There was a small Gryffindor boy who couldn't possibly have been seventeen. Remus, the last real connection to Sirius and a very nice man. One of the- Fred, she was sure that it was Fred. She was actually sadder for George than Fred. And his poor parents. Dammit, who was so cruel? It wasn't the order of things. Parents were supposed to die before their kids, not watch them die or waste away. It was why she always admired Augusta's strength. She had already checked that the old woman was not among the dead, but helping to tend to the wounded though she was limping herself.

She and Neville split apart to retrieve their fallen comrades, dead or injured, from where they had fallen. Everyone was still gathering in the hall. Tonks saw Neville talking to Harry Potter and hoped Neville would bash the boy over the head before letting him walk to his death.

Tonks was relatively sure that they had gathered all of the fallen defenders, not a bad percentage of loss thus far if she considered objectively. Of course, there would be many more, total annihilation, if they all stayed rather than flee like sensible cowards. When she was finished with her work, more fit to lug the dead than heal the hurting, she ran outside with many others when they heard the terrible voice again. The boy, Harry Potter was dead, so young and small at Hagrid's feet. The cries were even worse than the ones over the dead in the Great Hall, and so numerous. She had liked him. The kid was endearing, beyond even the savior of the wizarding world thing. Tonks had run out of tears months ago though.

And then Neville ran forward, stupid Neville, both too brave and loyal for his own good. She loved him, didn't she? She knew it in that moment that Neville lay disarmed on the ground, the only one who had stepped forward from the defenders of Hogwarts.

"And who is this?" the evil, slithery voice came, "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"

"Neville Longbottom, my Lord, the boy who has given us so much trouble at the school this year," said Alecto Carrow. Tonks saw her jump to answer You- to answer Voldemort, but the witch didn't have quite the same power in her voice as Bellatrix had had. Tonks smiled grimly thinking that no matter what else happened, that bitch was dead. Voldemort was absolutely terrifying to be near, but it did seem silly to be afraid to say the name even in her mind, when Neville was standing up and speaking to the man, defying his offer to join their side even.

Tonks could hardly follow all of the events that unfolded, though they would be cemented in her memory forever. Voldemort was rambling on about how there would be no more sorting, no more houses at Hogwarts, only Slytherin. He actually summoned the old Sorting hat, threw in on Neville's head, and lit in on fire. Her throat hurt from the scream she let out, immobilized but not silenced by whatever hold the Death Eaters had on the crowd. A giant broke onto the scene, met in combat with the giants who had been with the Death Eaters. Arrows from dozens of centaurs rained down on the Death Eaters as well. Finally, Neville broke free, hat falling off his head but hand disappearing inside, swiftly falling out a glittering sword. In one move, Neville lunged, swiping at Voldemort. Tonks thought he had missed the demon, but quickly saw that the evil man was not his target, as the snake fell off of its master's shoulders, head separated from scaly body. She had rarely seen such fury as she did in that deformed face. Coming to herself, she cast the strongest shield charm she could around Neville and started moving towards him. Soon, though, no one was focused on Neville, as the Boy Who Lived went missing, Hagrid screaming his grief.

The battling was back on, now also in the air as the thestrals and a hippogriff joined the fight for their side. Evidently the giant who had broken the standstill was a contact of Hagrid's and fighting for the light, if dangerously clumsily. House elves poured out of the front doors of the castle, led by Kreature, the deranged house elf of the Black Family that Tonks had considered beheading previously as the little creepy thing often asked for. Spells flying quickly from both sides, but even though the Hogwarts crowd had suffered greater losses before, the momentum had definitely shifted. She couldn't put her finger on it as her spells mostly hit their marks but her opponents' always flew just past her shoulders. That was it- no one on their side was getting hit, falling down, not a single one after prolonged heated battle. She wasn't the only one who had noticed either. Gradually more attention was focused on Voldemort and Harry and their banter. Harry mentioned that none of the Death Eaters' spells were killing their targets, saying that he had given all of them the same protection that his mother had given him years ago, the protection from loving sacrifice that Dumbledore had talked about so often.

It was actually poetic to see it all wrap up. She would have appreciated it if there hadn't already been so much death there that day. Harry talked about it all, how Dumbledore's death had been planned and Snape had been Dumbledore's man since the day Voldemort targeted Lily Potter, the woman he had always loved. Tonks never would have believed it of the man, and couldn't help think that it didn't excuse his unpleasantness over the years. But Neville was right about the castle listening to Snape- it seemed like the man was at least in some way protecting the children and the castle. Lord Voldemort, the most feared wizard in fifty years or more fell by a spell cast by his own hand, and Harry Potter only cast the disarming charm, his signature spell since he was a child. It was something she admired about Harry, actually, that his instinct was to disarm rather than to kill, even if it wouldn't always work in war. She joined the crowd around Harry, slipping her hand into Neville's, needing to feel that he wasn't dead after his daring stunt. When the attention around Harry died down, Tonks had to scare away several admirers from Neville as he cleaned off the Sword of Gryffindor.

And then the day was more or less over. Kingsley was named the temporary Minister of Magic, but Tonks was pretty sure he'd prove himself better than any leader they'd had in her lifetime or longer.

Tonks watched her cousin Draco and his family sneak off and didn't bother commenting. They weren't exactly the most dangerous Death Eaters to catch these days, and they were family. She was done hunting down family with Bellatrix and Sirius both dead. Lucius at least would need to be dragged in at some point, but she didn't have the energy for it at the moment, and evidently none of the other defenders did either. There was too much to celebrate and to sorrow over. Tonks found herself sitting at the Ravenclaw table, she thought, though tables were a bit out of place and no one cared what table they sat at. There was no distinction for the moment between the houses, just as Voldemort said actually, though not everyone was Slytherin like he promised. Everyone was just part of Hogwarts and glad to be alive, though Tonks was fairly sure that the houses would be back as soon as the giant hourglasses were fixed, if only because there were four convenient places for students to sleep.

*****Tonks*****

Neville helped with the rebuilding. It was where he belonged, just as he had said those months ago. When everything was done, and Hogwarts looked better than it ever had in some ways (and hauntingly empty in other ways), Neville came and joined the Aurors. Everyone who was part of the "Battle of Hogwarts," on the right side of it at least, was welcomed aboard. Frankly, the department was in so much chaos that they couldn't turn down a willing hand. Kingsley was amazing, but he couldn't be everywhere at once, and he liked relying on old Order and DA members who he knew were at least decently trained and had been through enough that they had proven that they could be trusted. No one who had stood defending Hogwarts could be doubted in their allegiance. Too many had been lost.

Neville was a good auror, but he turned in his notice the day that Rabastan Lestrange was finally given a life sentence in Azkaban. Neville could have ensured that the last of his parent's torturers was given the dementor's kiss, if they could round up a dementor, or outright execution, but he didn't. He privately had told her that he didn't want that responsibility. Three days after Neville "retired" from the force, Professor Pomona Sprout announced that she would also be retiring at the end of the term and that Neville Longbottom would be her successor. Tonks wondered if her old Head of House had kept the professorship longer than she wanted so she could hold it out for Neville. _That_ was where he belonged.

Tonks (As she would always go by publicly despite many protests) found herself quickly being one of the most senior aurors on the force, with more promotions than she deserved and turning down a few more. She stepped down somewhere around the time that her second child was begging insistently for a little brother and her mother was protesting that she was far too old to watch such energetic grandchildren for so many hours at a time. Augusta said she would always take them. But Tonks was tired of it all, and the aurors seemed like they were doing well enough after more than a year of being led by Harry Potter, even if Tonks would still tell him that he was just a kid.

By the time Olivia Longbottom, a strong-willed child with capriciously colored hair was attending Hogwarts, her father had been the Head of Gryffindor House for half of her life. She proclaimed that she would be her own person, in Slytherin or Ravenclaw most certainly, but her mother could see the heart of a lion cub, no matter which house the girl got herself into. Eleven year olds were hardly equipped to be judged for their future anyway- the molding wasn't even a quarter of the way through before they would be the person they would be for the rest of their lives. Then again, Tonks didn't understand her heart until she was twenty-three, and a few decades later she was wise enough to know that she was lucky to have been so young.

 **A/N: And there it is! Thank you so much for the support. I hope you won't be too disappointed that it wasn't longer. I know strange pairings don't get seen much, so I wasn't hurt that this didn't get much attention, but it meant the world to me that every single review was so nice and sweet, and a few good PM conversations started from it. Thank you!**


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